The ''Red Arrow'' (russian: Кра́сная стрела́) is a Russian overnight

sleeper train The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. The first such cars s ...

connecting

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

via the Moscow–Saint Petersburg Railway.

History

The ''Red Arrow'' runs from Leningrad Station in Moscow to Moscow Station in Saint Petersburg. It started its first regular service on June 9, 1931, and has only been interrupted between 1941 and 1943 during the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

. In 1962, the deep red colour of the train was adopted. Since 1965, the song "The Hymn to the Great City" has been playing when the ''Red Arrow'' leaves Saint Petersburg at 23:55. It was composed by

Reinhold Glière Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (born Reinhold Ernest Glier, which was later converted for standardization purposes; russian: Рейнгольд Морицевич Глиэр; 23 June 1956), was a Russian Imperial and Soviet composer of German and P ...

in 1949 and has been adopted as the hymn of Saint Petersburg in 2003. The Red Arrow is the most popular train in Russia. In Soviet times the Communist Party elite were carried out only by the Red Arrow between Moscow and Leningrad. To enhance capacity, a second sleeper train was introduced in 1978, called the ''Red Arrow 2''; this service leaves Moscow and Leningrad four minutes later. As newly designed cars were introduced by

Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...

in 2007, the ''Red Arrow 2'' was renamed ''Express''. As the demand for sleeper train increased even more, a private sleeper train, called ''Megapolis'', was introduced by the Tverskoy Express company, leaving Moscow or St Petersburg after the ''Red Arrow'' and ''Express''.

Structure of the Red Arrow

The Red Arrow has a restaurant car, VIP carriages, as well as 1st and 2nd class carriages. In designing the interior of the compartment cars, mainly wood is used. The VIP cars have a low noise level, ventilation system, flip-top sleeping berth, convertible table, conductor call button, bathroom and environmentally friendly toilet.

Notable events

In honour of the 75th anniversary of the train, a special subway train called ''Red Arrow - 75 Years'' was launched in 2006 on the

Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a metro system serving the Russian capital of Moscow as well as the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first unde ...

. On 29 March 2010 the subway train was bombed in the terrorist attack at Lubyanka station. As of June 2010 the subway train has been repaired and relaunched.

References

External links

Railway stations in Leningrad
(Encyclopedia of Leningrad) {{Semi-fast trains of RZD Named passenger trains of Russia Rail transport in Saint Petersburg Rail transport in Moscow Night trains of Russia Railway services introduced in 1931 Rail transport in the Soviet Union