Payment by a Troika card of a train has recently become an urgent issue for all residents of the Russian capital and the Moscow Region, who have to use suburban transport on a regular basis. It is no secret that many of those who work in Moscow themselves live far beyond the MKAD. For them, there is an extensive network of suburban trains that every morning bring tens of thousands of people to the capital to send them back in the evening.
Transport Card
The need to pay by the Troika card for a train appeared relatively recently. That is what the card is now called for paying for public transport in Moscow. It was introduced after changing the tariff system for the use of capital city transport in the spring of 2013.
The purchase of a Troika card does not require any special processing. You can get it at the automated kiosks of Mosgortrans, ticket offices of the subway, suburban and municipal passenger transport.
Acquisition
If you need to pay for commuter trains with a Troika card, it will be most convenient to purchase such a card at one of the stopping points of the commuter service.
Here's where you can do it, depending on which direction you are in:
- Kazan - stations "New", "Electrozavodskaya", "Vykhino", "Kazan Station".
- Kursk - stations "Tekstilshchiki", "Kalanchevskaya", "Tsaritsyno", "Kursk station".
- Yaroslavl - "Yaroslavl Station".
- Kievskoe - "Kievskiy station".
- Gorky - stations "Novogireevo", "Hammer and Sickle".
- Riga - station "Tushino", "Riga station".
- Paveletsky - stations "Lower Boilers", "Moscow-Paveletskaya", "Kolomenskaya".
- Savelovskoye - Timiryazevskaya station, Savelovsky station.
- Belorusskoye - stations Fili, Begovaya, Kuntsevo, Belorussky Train Station.
The cost of the card is 100 rubles, 50 of which are the collateral value of the card. They will be returned if you want to turn it in. Another 50 rubles are automatically credited to the card balance. You can immediately pay for travel with a Troika card.
Map update
The second step after purchasing this universal transport card is the need to record a subscription to the train. If you have just purchased a card or you had it before, but you have not yet used suburban transport, the card should be updated in the self-service machines of the metro. You can do this at any metro station. Updating occurs automatically when replenishing the card for any amount.
Please note that in this case, after completion of operations, a message appears on the screen: "Your card has been updated automatically." After that, you can pay with the Troika card for the train.
To use this method of fare payment, you have to replenish the card balance for an amount not exceeding three thousand rubles. The easiest way to do this is immediately during a map update.
How to record a subscription?
You can activate several different subscriptions at once to pay for commuter trains with a Troika card. Here are the travel options that you can currently record:
- daily subscription tickets of various periods (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 days), if desired, a subscription can be issued for a period of one to six months or immediately for the whole year;
- subscriptions for working hours are issued for the same periods as the previous ones, but are valid only on weekdays;
- weekend tickets for one month;
- "3,500" season tickets are specially designed for passengers who travel more than 53 kilometers;
- “Big Moscow” season tickets are the opposite of the previous category and are valid for passengers who travel up to 25 kilometers from the main stations of Moscow in any suburban areas;
- “ring” types of Megapolis plus season tickets at a fixed cost, which provide passengers with the opportunity to travel from any station within 26 and 40 kilometers from the main stations of Moscow, as well as back within one chosen direction.
Tickets are recorded in the corresponding ticket machines, which can be found at railway stations. They are marked with special informational posters. The passenger has the opportunity to record a subscription in advance, for example, a month before its use. It is important to note that those who are going to draw up one card for two should remember that repeated passage through it is possible no more than once every forty minutes.
New Special Offers
In addition to the subscriptions that originally existed for the payment of the Troika card, the electric trains, over time, new ones appeared.
Since 2017, the special offer "Follow Next" has been in force, which works on the subscription "Big Moscow". It is designed to help passengers save time by moving beyond the zone of their subscription, even in end-to-end directions.
If earlier a passenger had to leave the train at the terminal station of the Bolshaya Moskva subscription, and then buy a separate ticket, now you can buy a one-time transit ticket at the box office of any train direction station, which is located in the map's coverage area.
For this, the passenger needs to present their subscription to the cashier at the departure station, having immediately bought a one-way or both-way ticket. This can be done in advance, but not earlier than ten days before the departure of a local train.
The tariff "Mix" offers customers the most favorable cost of a subscription. It includes ordinary trains, transfers and express trains. The cost per month on business days is 4,200 rubles.
Terms of use
To use the card in the train, you will need to pre-record one or another subscription to it.
To get on a commuter train car, attach the card with the ticket you recorded in advance at the turnstile to the validator. He will automatically recognize the information entered on the card, take into account your trip.
If any of the stations is not equipped with such turnstiles, you do not need to attach a card to the validator. In this case, it will be enough to present it to the cashier-inspector, who will approach you in the train.
Recharge card
You can replenish the Troika card for paying for a ride on the train in a variety of ways. Its creators took care of this. It is important that you can do this even remotely. For example, using SMS messages, payment terminals, on the official website of the card and through Internet banking .
This is convenient if you intend to pay for commuter trains with a Troika card for the number of trips, and do not purchase a subscription. Here are all the existing ways to recharge a card:
- subway ticket offices;
- automated kiosks of Mosgortrans;
- ticket machines;
- Aeroexpress ticket offices;
- partner terminals (Moscow Credit Bank, Eleksnet, Megafon, EuroPlan, Velobike).
Remote Payment Methods
A convenient way to remotely pay is to replenish the Troika card via SMS. To do this, you need to put money into an electronic wallet by sending a message to the appropriate number. It should write troika, your card number and the amount by which you plan to replenish it.
Everything is entered without quotes, separated by spaces. A few seconds after that, you will receive a request to your mobile phone in order to confirm the operation.
The next stage is the activation of the deposited funds, which must be carried out using one of the yellow information terminals. To do this, select the "Remote replenishment" command, bring the card to the scanner, wait until the recording is completed and payment is confirmed.
This service is available to subscribers of the three largest mobile operators that operate in Russia. The minimum amount is ten rubles, the maximum is two and a half thousand.
Online banking
Another convenient way is online banking. This opportunity is provided by several large banks. For example, you can deposit money using an electronic wallet using the services of Sberbank, VTB, Moscow Credit Bank, Rosbank.
For all financial institutions, the procedure is approximately the same. You should select the option called “Top-up card“ Troika. ”Then enter the 10-digit number of your card, which is indicated on its reverse side. You should also indicate the amount of recharge, confirm the payment, and then activate the money deposited through the terminal in the same way You did this when replenishing your account via SMS.
In this case, the maximum amount of replenishment will also be two and a half thousand rubles. Money on the card can be stored for up to five years.
You can transfer money to a transport card using an electronic wallet. Currently, these functions are available to users of electronic payment services Yandex. Money, Qiwi and WebMoney.
Privileges
Payment of an electric train with a Troika or Strelka card, which is valid in the Moscow region, is very popular. This is because many get a great opportunity to save.
Benefits when paying with a Troika card are provided by a special loyalty program. Moscow authorities have estimated that about 90% of all passengers already pay for trips in public transport on an ongoing basis using Troika. The loyalty program created for them allows them to receive discounts by paying for tickets in cinemas, shopping in metropolitan stores and cafes.
For example, at partners' retail outlets, passengers will be able to return up to 10% of the amount of the completed purchase. In addition, after each replenishment of the wallet in the amount of 250 rubles, another three percent will be returned to the passenger's bonus account.
It is assumed that this will attract new users in order to reduce the need to sell travel drivers and reduce the number of paper tickets.