We all heard of free trains arranged by host country for World Cup 2018 visitors.
You can find current timetable on free trains portal. That's a welcoming initiative that would be appreciated by many.
But almost all of this trains have connection in Moscow so if you need to travel directly between regional cities all will turn into logistical nightmare.
Vast and reliable RZD train system is good alternative. Purchasing tickets online is easy, but English interface could be a bit confusing for non Russian speaking guests.
Here is some directions that would hopefully help you with the process.



Intercity trains highly popular in Russia due to low price tag along with impressive reliability and widespread coverage.
Whole network from Vladivostok on Far East to Kaliningrad on Baltic run by centralized government own company RZD Russian Railways making it the biggest rail company in the world.
Trains are safe and comfortable to use and we highly recommend this option if you need to connect between host cities like Rostov to Volgograd or Samara to Saransk. Alternatively, you can rent a car.

Due to train system limitation you can not buy your tickets now 6 month in advance, sales only available for next 90 days.
But you can still play with your destinations and plan your trip. Here is the link to official English site: https://pass.rzd.ru/main-pass/public/en
First, you need to register new login. Click "Registreation" in My Orders field in left column.
Fill form as directed.



After you login type in your Departure and Arrival stations.
Transliteration from Russian is a bit dodgy, and some bigger cities have more then one stations.
As you see Moscow is appears as MOSKVA and has 8 stations depending on your destination. Just type ‘MOSKVA’, the system will choose for you.
Here is list of World Cup 2018 host cities that have different rail stations names:
St. Petersburg — SANKT-PETERBURG GLAVNY
Volgograd — VOLGOGRAD 1
Kaliningrad — KALININGRAD-PASSAJIRSK
Kazan — KAZAN, GOR’KOVSKAYA
Nizhny Novgorod —? NIJNII NOVGOROD MOSKOV
Ekaterinburg — EKATERINBURG-PASSAJIRS
Rostov-on-Don — ROSTOV . (There are two Rostov cities in Russia: Rostov-on-Don, and Rostov Veliky in Yaroslavl region. Make sure you chose Rostov-on-Don.)
Dropdown menu will aid you as you typing to make sure not spellings mistakes.



After you choose your travel dates click "Buy ticket" button and list of available services will appear.
Choose your departure time and class of travel to proceed with next step.
IMPORTANT time in rail system anywhere in Russia is MOSCOW time UTC+3. Three host cities have local time difference to Moscow - Kaliningrad, Samara and Ekaterinburg.



There are 4 seating types:
1-cl (SV) - sleeping compartment for 2, 16 seats per car
2-cl (Kupe) - sleeping compartment for 4, 36 seats per car
3-cl (Platskart) - open sleeping plan, 54 seats per car
and sitting.
The numbers ‘1-cl’ mean ‘class’.



Sleeping compartment is a room for 2 or 4 people, with a table and a lockable door. The best choice for overnight trips.
Car interior 3d tour.



Open sleeping plan (Platskart) look like this. There are 4-bed sections (on the left) and 2-bed sections on the side. This carriages could be quite crowded but still safe and comfortable enough to have a decent sleep. If your travel as a group more then 4 we recommend to choose that type. In Russia we call it "Fan class" as its preferred one for all travelling fans to stick together and have fun)



To select the train, click on the seating type. A menu will expand, showing the cars. Pick a car to proceed.
When you pick the car, you’ll see sitting plan of that car. But you can’t pick a seat now. Instead, click ‘Go to passenger data entry and seat selection’.



Upper seats will have odd numbers and cost less than lower once.
Fill the required info in passengers data section. Make sure that spelling matches your documents.



Next you can buy insurance, but it’s optional of cause.
And now you can pick your seats.
Double check the data and proceed to the payment. At this step, it says "the tickets successfully reserved" and you have 12 minutes to pay. Look at the timer in the top right corner. VISA and MasterCard accepted.



Print your electronic ticket and be ready to present it to car attendant on departure.

You can also get refund for you tickets if needed but that should be done not less than 8 hr to departure for full return.
Click on your account name in the top right corner, and go to ‘My Orders’. There you’ll see tickets you’ve bought.
Almost all intercity trains have dining car, except sitting trains between Moscow StPetersburg and N Novgorod. You can also bring you own food on board so stock up before departure as travel time could be quite long.
Hot drinks like tea or coffee provided right to your seat by car attendant.

If you still find official web site too confusing you can also try re-seller agents site tutu.ru

We also heard some concerns like that:
"Are the trains in Russia really that slow? Google maps says 10 hours for Kazan to Saransk which is only 400km away. That's less than 50kph (30mph). Sounds ridiculously slow"

Well, those have no experience with Russian trains just have to accept this reality: Slow train is not your enemy – it’s your friend.

1. It doesn’t cost you much
2. Has very extensive coverage between main cities.
3. Helps you to save on greedy hotels/Airbnb with comfortable overnight o the rails. In fact for cities relatively close to Moscow the slower it is the better coz what you gonna do if you catch fast 4 hr train after game arriving like 2am in the night? Right, 10 hr is better as you arrive fresh and save 1 night accommodation costs.
4. Despite low cost it’s quite high standard safe comfortable sleep trains.
5. Main one – in Russia train ride is not just A to B, its experience by itself. Take the opportunity to see the countryside, relax with you friends or meet locals for a little chat.

And welcome to Russia!

Keep printouts of your tickets as they are equivalent of hotel stay aliens registration for your overnight trips. This is very unlikely that authorities would ever ask for it, but you have to be aware that such stupid thing exist, so read up our article here.

If you have any additional questions just chuck a comment and our community here will be always happy to help!