- Really loving the Sapsan service here in first class,
it's just incredible.
Probably the best first class I've ever had on a train.
This is on a train, can you believe this?
Welcome back to St. Petersburg in Russia,
Moskovsky Station, which can only mean one thing.
We're about to take a ride
on another super cool Russian train.
Now today, we're taking a train down to Moscow.
And we're not just taking any train.
We're taking the Sapsan,
which is Russia's high-speed bullet train.
It does the 700 kilometer journey
from here in St. Petersburg down to Moscow
in just four hours.
Now, the Sapsan travels at speeds
of up to 155 miles an hour.
A normal car journey from here in St. Petersburg to Moscow
would take eight hours.
The Sapsan does it in just four. It's incredible.
So I'm looking forward to getting a ride on it tonight
from here down to Moscow.
Just
time for me tea.
All right, so there's a train that's going soon
from St. Petersburg Station,
and that's ours, the 775 to Moscow, high-speed.
I haven't got platform just yet.
Just waiting for it to be assigned.
And then we can have through to get on board the Sapsan.
All right, we have a platform. Platform number 11.
Let's go.
Here it is then, the Sapsan train is gonna take me down...
So this way.
It's gonna take me down from here to Moscow.
Looking forward to it.
And of course, if we're doing the Sapsan down to Moscow,
we've gotta do it in style.
We're doing it in first class today.
And I'm in carriage one seat 007.
- The name's Bond. James Bond.
- Shaken not stirred.
'Cause I'm sure I will be by the time I get to Moscow.
Just waiting for them to open doors now.
Seven on board,
they're really comfortable Sapsan first class, look at this.
Incredibly spacious,
and they've given us blankets and pillows.
Lovely Sapsan pillow here.
Branding all around. Look at the seat.
And then we'll talk about the seats a little bit later on,
but look at this.
This is on a train. Can you believe this?
Reclining controls and everything,
And an absolute ton of leg room. I love this.
It's about four hours tonight then,
the train down to Moscow, so looking forward to it.
So we've got a little amenity kit here as well.
I think it may just be slippers. I'm not sure.
Should we have a look? Let's have a see.
Oh, wow!
So we got some gorgeous gentlemen's slippers.
Should have brought my smoking jacket, really,
shouldn't I?
And then we've got...
Wow! Look at this amenity kit.
I can't wait to go through that later.
Sapsan.
Sapsan actually means peregrine falcon, by the way,
in Russian, a little bit of Russian trivia for you there.
One of the few words that I have learnt
on this journey to Russia.
So yeah, oh, peregrine falcon.
Awesome.
- [Announcer] The train leaves in five minutes.
Please check your tickets and luggage.
- So we're tanking along now
at more than 200 kilometers an hour.
Now we've left St. Petersburg.
First service has come around,
cheese and wine and stuff, very cold.
Look how fast we're moving, look.
quick show you around the seat
while I'm waiting for dinner.
Set the table, obviously, as you can see,
pops out from down there.
We've got a bit of a, ooh, light over there.
On this side, you've got the controls for the seat.
And here, I'm popping out from down here...
Is the entertainment system which is pretty cool.
It's all in Russian and not quite sure how to change it,
but hey, it's pretty cool, though, isn't it?
Personal TV on a train.
And then down here,
that's a power port,
which is pretty cool.
So I'm gonna plug in and charge some of my devices
in a little while.
Seat soulfully reclines.
All the way back here.
It's not a flatbed,
don't really need a flatbed for a four-hour train,
but it's pretty decent as far as trains go.
And of course, you get your sort of duvet and pillow
and everything to try and sleep as well if you want to,
which I might do in a little while once the sun goes down.
But so far,
really loving the Sapsan service here in first class.
It's just incredible.
Probably the best first class I've ever had on a train.
Let's get some wine drunk.
So dinner has arrived,
and we've got chicken salad for the starter,
followed by chicken for the main course.
Looking forward to this, looks really delicious.
It's really good.
Let's try this.
It's really good, really nice.
All right, let's, should we have a look at this amenity kit?
Let's have a look.
See what we've got inside it.
We have
a comb,
a shoehorn,
eye mask,
a few bits and bobs, toiletries and the like,
and a dental kit as well.
It's pretty decent.
It's a four-hour train ride, you get an amenity kit,
it's so cool.
Well, there you go.
The Sapsan first-class amenity kit
to add to my collection.
So we have two stops on tonight's train
down to Moscow.
And some of them go direct.
Tonight's going through a place called Bologoye
and a place called Tver, which is a bit further down.
And this is our first stop, Bologoye.
So second to the last stop, city of Tver.
Next stop, Moscow.
- [Announcer] Dear ladies and gentlemen,
to make your journey more pleasant and comfortable,
we invite you to visit the business lounges
located at the Leningradsky and Moskovsky railway terminals,
as well as the railway stations of Tver.
- So about half an hour to go now
until we arrive into Moscow.
And I have to say,
I wasn't really sure what to expect
with the Sapsan bullet train.
My original plan had been to
get the overnight sleeper train down,
leaving at half nine,
and getting there at like six in the morning or something,
dashing across Moscow to get my flight home.
I put it to my Patreons and they said,
"Why not try the bullet train?" And I did.
And you know what?
I'm quite pleased I did because now we get to Moscow.
I can take leisurely ride across the city
to the airport hotel.
I'm staying there and get a bit of a lie-in in the morning
and have ridden down in quiet, nice style as well.
So, yeah, thank you Patreons.
Don't forget you can join
on that link on the screen as well.
Nice, old, little plug in there as well.
But yeah, half an hour, I reckon,
and then we'll be arriving into Moskva.
So not far to go until we arrive into Moscow,
they've just come around with a little gift for us.
Don't know what it is actually so.
Chocolate-covered nuts.
Thank you, Russian Railways, very nice.
Thank you, Sapsan.
Oy, here we are then, Moscow.
Leningradsky Station again,
to my ride down from St. Petersburg
on the Sapsan bullet train.
How cool was that?
It's nighttime in Moscow.
I don't think I've ever seen
nighttime in Moscow on this trip.
So it doesn't get dark until like 11,
and it gets light at midnight or something, it's ridiculous.
But anyway, next stop,
let's try and get a car to the airport.
My ride in Sapsan first class cost me
230 pounds or $317 US,
working out at a cost of 52 pence per mile.
This makes it more expensive
than the overnight Krasnaya Strela train that I took.
But it also meant that I'd done the journey
in just four hours.
Don't forget to check out my ride on the Krasnaya Strela
at the link on the screen now.
And let me know in the comments
which of the two trains that you take
between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Made it
inside the terminal at Domodedovo airport,
south of Moscow.
Well, that was a nice trip, wasn't it,
down on the Sapsan from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
I'm quite happy with that because that means that now
I get a good seven hours sleep here in the hotel,
and I don't have to be up until sort of half seven,
eight o'clock in the morning.
Whereas if I'd have got the train,
it would have been a 5:00 am wake-up call,
and then an hour shooting across the city of Moscow.
So quite happy with that really.
Nice little ride down on the Sapsan train.
Let me know what you thought,
do it down in the comments,
but for me, well, I'm off to get some sleep
because tomorrow, heading home.
Thanks so much for watching, take care,
and I'll see you on the next one.
Bye for now.