More than three thousand tickets for trains from Moscow and St. Petersburg to the Crimea and back were sold in the first nine hours of the starting day of sales in these areas. This information was reported by TASS in the company "Grand Service Express", which the Ministry of Transport has chosen as the operator of passenger transportation to the Crimea.

Earlier, the press service of the federal state-owned enterprise “Crimean Railway” (KZD) told the agency that as of 15:00 Moscow time, 606 train tickets had been sold through ticket offices in Crimea, and 2484 tickets in the whole country.

“Cash desks work without failures, everything is in order,” KZD said.

It is worth noting that during Friday, November 8, the website of the Grand Service Express company for the sale of tickets functioned intermittently due to the serious load on the portal.

“Due to the large number of requests to buy tickets to Crimea on grandtrain.ru, the time for processing travel documents can be increased. The company's specialists are working on a solution to this problem. We apologize to the passengers, ”the company reported.

Also, tickets can be purchased at the box office and through the mobile application. It is possible to choose the suitable option on the official website of Russian Railways, however, to pay for it you will have to go to the carrier’s portal.

    On the eve of “Grand Service Express” announced the upcoming start of ticket sales and spoke about pricing, which will be dynamic - depending on demand and season.

    The cost of a ticket from Moscow to Simferopol in a compartment carriage of a double-decker train starts at 2966 rubles, and travel in the CB class costs from 9952 rubles. The fare from St. Petersburg in the reserved seat starts from the mark of 3,500 rubles, in the compartment - from 3,906 rubles. The first trains leave on December 23 and 24.

    The transportation operator also said that now the possibility of introducing a system of discounts for privileged categories of citizens is being discussed. The discussion on this issue is being conducted with relevant departments, said Alexander Ganov, CEO of Grand Service Express.

    “Yes, we plan to open all preferential categories. We are now conducting additional work with a number of government departments in order to expand this circle. I hope that everything will turn out successfully, and all categories of beneficiaries who today have the right to travel on the territory of Russia with discounts or for free ... this will happen with us, ”RIA Novosti quotes Ganova.

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    Commenting on the imminent start of a full-fledged railway connection with the peninsula, the deputy head of Rostourism, Sergey Korneev, in an interview with RT expressed the opinion that Crimea found its place on the tourist map of Russia.

    “What happened was what we dreamed about and what everyone worked on - Crimea found its place on the tourist map of Russia. And, more importantly, Crimea is becoming an all-season tourist product, ”said Korneev.

    He said that for many Russians it is the train that is the most familiar form of transport for tourism. The deputy head of the department noted that we are talking about those who discovered Crimea during Soviet times.

    “These are people for whom Crimea has become a native holiday destination, with stunning nature, mountains and the sea. And these people are really used to riding trains. This is such a tradition that has come to us from the time of Soviet tourism, and it certainly works now, ”Korneev added.

    Peninsula Ticket Sales

    The press service of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Crimean Railway” specified that on the peninsula tickets for trains to Moscow and St. Petersburg can be purchased in 24 places.

    “Tickets for long-distance trains can be purchased at 24 points at the stations Kerch, Seven Wells, Krasnoflotskaya, Kirovskaya, Feodosiya, Vladislavovka, Nizhnegorskaya, Azovskaya, Dzhankoy, Krasnoperekopsk, Armyansk, Urozhaynaya, Elevatornaya, Ostryakovo, Simferopol Kurki, Saki, Saki , Bakhchisaray, Sevastopol, as well as in railway ticket offices in the cities of Yalta and the Court, ”KZD reported.

    • Tickets for the passenger train at the railway station in Simferopol
    • © Konstantin Mikhalchevsky / RIA News

    On the morning of November 8, it became known that the first train ticket through the Crimean bridge was bought in Sevastopol. It is reported that a local resident bought a reserved seat ticket for December 25 for 4,525 rubles to go on a visit.

    According to the National Television of Sevastopol (NTS) portal, Crimean residents are actively purchasing train tickets. It is noted that for the inhabitants of the peninsula we are talking about the first long-distance trains since 2014.

    “There was a dream: the whole family went to Moscow for the New Year holidays - we have many relatives there. We want to spend time: bring the children to the Kremlin tree and take a walk in snowy Moscow! ”- quotes the words of one of the buyers from the NTS.

    Commenting on the successful start of train ticket sales in the direction of the peninsula, State Duma deputy from Crimea Ruslan Balbek called the launch of the region’s rail link with the rest of Russia “a symbol of the victory of justice, in which they believed, waited and achieved.”

    “They counted the days, watched the construction site, drove along the bridge and dreamed of buying tickets to the mainland and the first to ride through history - in the truest sense of the word. And it is not surprising that tickets are sold out "with a bang," because they want to be the first to go along the railway line - the pride of Russia, "the parliamentarian said in an interview with RT.

    He noted that those who love Crimea as a place of rest will gladly travel by train with "comfort, not thinking about traffic jams, road repairs."

    “And there are hundreds of thousands of such Russians,” the deputy summed up. Note that the other day, the Permanent Representative of Crimea under the President of Russia, Georgy Muradov, estimated at 10% the possible increase in tourist flow to the peninsula after the launch of railway communication. He also noted that the opening of the second part of the Crimean bridge will reduce the price of freight.

    • Train station Simferopol
    • vk.com
    • © tavria.train