On December, 2019 Russian Railways (https://russianrailways.org) launched first trains from Russian mainland to annexed Crimea. The train from St. Petersburg arrived to Sevastopol at December, 24, while double-decker train from Moscow to Simferopol followed the next day.
The Tavria train consists of 17 cars, same as number of cities on the Crimean Peninsula. There are two dining cars. St. Petersburg train consists of plain cars of 2 and 3 classes, for Moscow train double-decker carriages of 1 and 2 classes are used.
The festive atmosphere was in the carriages of newly launched Tavria train, as well as on the platform of Sevastopol, where the train from St. Petersburg was met.
It was the first passenger train, which followed the newly opened Crimean bridge. The driver warned of a long-awaited event in ten minutes and slowed down so that passengers could capture the grandiose arches in the colors of the Russian tricolor, illuminated by four thousands of lights. The train passed the bridge in about 20 minutes. And already at half past nine arrived in the city of Sevastopol.
When Tavria appeared on the horizon, the entire station platform in Sevastopol no longer held back emotions. After a five-year break, Crimea meets passenger trains again. On the first track, the first train triumphantly drives into the sounds of the orchestra.
The journey was 2741 kilometers long, the train crossed 11 regions of Russia and 118 rivers as well as the newly opened Crimean bridge over Kerch straight. It takes 43,5 hours to get from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol and 33 hours to get from Moscow to Simferopol.