Trains carrying Russians to the Black Sea have always been popular and in demand. With the start of the holiday season, thousands of people choose this safe, reliable and familiar form of transport from childhood. The Moscow-Sukhum train is no exception, as evidenced by the fact that the cars filled to capacity become full.
Every year, the tourist flow to Abkhazia is increasing. Vacationers, tired of the high cost and cramped Russian resorts, increasingly prefer the beautiful Abkhazian nature, free beaches and friendly locals.
However, many are still frightened off by the difficulties of the road to Abkhazia: troubles at the border, poor transport links, chaos of taxi drivers and minibuses, recklessly driving along serpentines and taking impressive amounts for it. The train Moscow - Sukhum helps to easily and comfortably avoid these problems.
Train description
Trains ran regularly between Sukhumi and Moscow until 1992, when communications ceased due to the war between Abkhazians and Georgians. After its completion, Abkhazia recovered for a long time, its economic and political condition was in a deep crisis. Railroad tracks were abandoned and fell into disrepair.
The first train again went along this road after its overhaul, in the fall of 2004. At first, it was only two trailer cars that were part of Moscow - Adler. But then the obvious demand for the direction pushed the leadership of Russian Railways to launch a full-fledged train 305 Moscow - Sukhum.
Passenger reviews were mostly positive, so the flight still exists. On it runs two or four trains of ten to fifteen cars each, depending on the season. You can buy tickets to places of different categories: CB, reserved seat or coupe. The movement is year-round. From May to the end of October, the train runs daily, the rest of the year on odd numbers.
Passengers pass the border without getting off the wagons. From the Russian side, customs control is carried out at Veselaya station and lasts an hour, from the Abkhaz side - at Tsandrypsh station and lasts half an hour. The train has a restaurant car, the cars are equipped with dry closets and air conditioning.
Train movement Moscow - Sukhum
You can find different numbers for this train. For example, search engines often find it at number 305C. However, on the official website of the Russian Railways company, he was unambiguously assigned numbers 306C (when leaving from Sukhumi) and 306M (when leaving Moscow).
The Moscow - Sukhum train leaves at 19:50, travels 1830 kilometers and arrives in Sukhum at 10:24. Travel time is 38.5 hours. There are 33 stops on the route. The longest and most important are the following (stop time, stop duration):
- Ryazan - 22:52, 5 minutes;
- Michurinsk - 01:28, 12 minutes;
- Pribytkovo - 02:45, 30 minutes;
- Voronezh - 04:40, 42 minutes;
- Liski - 06:44, 26 minutes;
- Rossosh - 08:58, 35 minutes;
- Rostov-on-Don - 17:30, 44 minutes;
- Timashevsky bypass - 21: 10, 13 minutes;
- Krasnodar - 22:28, 10 minutes;
- Hot Key - 00:12, 37 minutes;
- Tuapse Paz - 02:14, 12 minutes;
- Sochi - 04:23, 5 minutes;
- Adler - 04:59, 30 minutes;
- Funny - 05:51, 1 h 0 minutes;
- Tsandrypsh - 07:17, 30 minutes;
- Gagra - 08:19, 2 minutes;
- Sukhumi 10:28.
Prices
The cost of tickets is determined by seasonal factors and may change over time by decision of the Russian Railways. As of January 2018, the price of a ticket for the Moscow - Sukhum train is: NE in the region of 9,500 rubles, a compartment - from 4,700 rubles, a place on the reserved seat - about 3,000 rubles. Prices must be specified on the Russian Railways website or directly at the box office upon purchase.
Advantages
- There is no alternative. You can get from the capital to Abkhazia without a transfer only by train 305 Moscow - Sukhum. Reviews of people who drove their own car are very mixed and often sad. After all, this is due to the inevitability of covering almost 1800 kilometers by car in the summer, with children, on the serpentine road, spending up to several hours at the border, beware of Caucasian reckless people and greedy traffic cops. Planes do not fly to Abkhazia. The bus from Moscow runs haphazardly and the journey takes almost 30 hours.
- Easy border crossing. Examination and verification of documents are quite quick and without leaving the car.
- Polite guides.
- Air conditioning and dry closets. These are the most important attributes of a trip to the south in summer, without them the stuffiness and sanitary zone along the sea can turn a trip into flour.
- Convenient schedule. Departure from Moscow in the evening, there is time to settle down and have dinner before bedtime. The train arrives in Sukhum in the morning, the vacationer can easily find housing or settle in the already booked accommodation, go to the beach, take a walk around the city.
disadvantages
You can not ignore the shortcomings of the Moscow - Sukhum train. Reviews of dissatisfied passengers are a subjective thing, as are laudatory evaluations. But for a person who decides to go along this route, it is better to be prepared in advance for such possible inconveniences as:
- Not very new underwear and dilapidated condition of cars. But here is a matter of chance, the composition includes both relatively old and new cars.
- Sometimes air conditioning systems break down. At the border, air conditioners shut off throughout the train.
- High prices in the restaurant, but this is the norm for trains.
- A lot of noisy companies and troubled children. On the one hand, the minus is obvious, and on the other - inevitable. After all, family trips to the south are often made purely for the health and joy of children.
- Long and numerous stops.