Hi everyone!

This year we are trying something new with our exchange program. Instead of going to St.Pete first (where our exchange school is located) we are doing the "travel" part of the trip first, and flying into Moscow.
After 2 nights in Moscow, we are taking the Avrora Express train to St.Pete. This will be our first time on the day train, as we usually take the overnight train. So a few questions have come up:

1- We will have all of our luggage- can we keep this with us? Is there a space for it on the car, in our coupe, etc.?

2- Is there any more of a safety concern on this train than the overnight variety?

Thanks for any help-

How much is "all" your luggage? I didn't take this specific train, but I did take a day train from St. P. to Novgorod (HIGHLY recommend Novgorod) and the night train on to Moscow. Since the nice young policeman sharing my compartment on the night train told me that that train carried armed guards because it was notorious for drunkenness, I can't imagine the day train could be worse.

I travel with just a backpack and a day pack, so don't pay much attention to luggage provision, but I believe the day train just had the usual overhead racks. But the locals are likely to board carrying lots of stuff, so don't imagine you'll have too much difficulty.

Thanks, Thursdaysd! We will have (I fear) quite a lot of luggage with us- I am really trying to pack lightly, but I know for myself that I will have about 20lbs. of gifts for our exchange school, plus my stuff.

The group is 25 people, and all 22 kids are being limited to one suitcase and one bookbag/purse/whatever their flight carryon is.

I have looked around a bit, and it seems that there are 6 person seated coupes and seated cars like I am used to on Amtrak, etc. I want to check with our travel agent and see which type of seats we have.

katya - with that many people looking after that amount of luggage you should be fine! I checked seat61.com, but he's surprisingly unhelpful about day trains. You might ask over on the thorntree, as well. Have a good trip! BTW, do you know what's replacing the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow?

That's a good idea, thursdaysd! I will check Thorntree.

The last I heard, the Rossiya is being replaced with (shocker) a more expensive international chain. I wish there were more budget options there!!!

I am so not surprised... The Rossiya was a welcome relief from a lousy home stay (I had a room overlooking the river, and ate dinner in its restaurant so I could stare at St. Basils). I was sorry to hear it had gone.

I know that the Rossiya Hotel is closed, but has it been torn down.

As far as replacement, I found this:

Thursday, October 19, 2006
British Architect Unveils Rossiya Plan.

British architect Sir Norman Foster presented a design Wednesday to fill the space where the Rossiya hotel once stood with a cultural center in the shape of an ellipsis, a 2,000-room hotel and a museum.

Moscow's architectural council, led by Mayor Yury Luzhkov, backed the overall proposal but sent Foster back to the drawing board.

[...]

Have they torn it down

Thursday, October 19, 2006. Issue 3522. Page 5.
British Architect Unveils Rossiya Plan
By Kevin O'Flynn
Staff Writer
British architect Sir Norman Foster presented a design Wednesday to fill the space where the Rossiya hotel once stood with a cultural center in the shape of an ellipsis, a 2,000-room hotel and a museum.

Moscow's architectural council, led by Mayor Yury Luzhkov, backed the overall proposal but sent Foster back to the drawing board after a three-hour debate.

[...]

Looks like the Rossiya redevelopment is still in limbo: tinyurl.com/yu5wbv Also, Foster's website lists the Russia Tower, but not the Rossiya project.

Interesting stuff. Luzhkov is a... character. I just think it will be strange to have pics on Red Square that don't have that big "Rossiya" label in the background!