Up to what age can I buy a children's train ticket?

Many Russian families prefer to travel by rail. It is convenient, rather quickly and not too burdensome for the wallet. When adults travel by train, they rarely have questions regarding transportation regulations. But everything changes, if you have to travel with the child by rail or there is a need to send a child to one.

Most often, parents are interested in whether the child needs a separate children's ticket, to what age a baby can travel for free, what benefits for minors exist and what documents he will need. We will try to tell about it in as much detail as possible.

First you need to say that any child, of any age, must necessarily purchase a special children's ticket. Either at the box office of the station, or via the Internet on the official website of the main carrier of Russia - the company Russian Railways.

A children's travel document can be completely free, and it can also be sold for money. Which document your child is supposed to determine determines the age of the son or daughter.

For this age category, young passengers are provided with absolutely free travel on long-distance trains, in suburban trains and trains running across the border of the Russian Federation. However, parents should remember that they will not let the baby into the carriage, unless they take a special children's ticket at the ticket office at the station. He gives the right only to get into the train, a separate place for him the child is not supposed to. The child will have to occupy the same shelf with the accompanying adult.

If a mom or dad travels with two to three children under the age of five, then only one of the children can travel for free. The second and third will have to purchase a travel document at a children's fare. Usually paid children's ticket is 30-50% cheaper than an adult.

If two young children travel accompanied by two adults, then both babies are entitled to a free voyage, since the carrier has established the rule “1 free ticket for a child with 1 adult”.

An exception to all rules concerns the carriage of children in luxury cars. There you can buy a free ticket for a child up to 10 years. However, the cost of tickets in such a car is twice as high as usual.

Passengers of this age put a children's ticket, which will have to pay. Cost depends on the carrier’s tariff policy in one direction or another, as well as on seasonality (more expensive during the holiday period and on holidays). On average, a children's ticket is a third or half cheaper than a similar adult travel document.

It should be remembered that for children of this age group Russian Railways has benefits. So, if a child is a student of a general education institution (school, gymnasium, lyceum), if he studies in pre-university institutions of the Ministry of Defense (cadet corps, Suvorov and Presidential schools, Nakhimov College, etc.), in specialized boarding schools of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Emergency Situations , Ministry of Education, he was entitled to a 50% discount on tickets. This benefit is valid for a year, except for the summer months.Therefore, schoolchildren and cadets for a trip to the sea in the summer will have to take a ticket for the full price set for children, without benefits.

For children older than this age, only student benefits are provided, which we discussed above. A child can ride the trains at half price from an adult fare all year round, excluding the summer months. A children's ticket for children over ten is no longer covered, and such children need to buy a regular adult travel document.

Special children over 5 years old travel on trains paid from the budget. However, only once a year. Once every 12 months, they can travel for free to medical treatment or to rest at a sanatorium on the territory of Russia for free. The rest of the time, these kids have all the child benefits that exist for the rest of the children’s categories. They apply to one adult accompanying person. From October 1 to May 15 (that is, excluding the summer months), a disabled child can enjoy a 50% discount on train tickets for children.

If, when traveling, a special child will have to cross the borders of Russia by train, the discount will be valid only for that part of the journey that is within the country. After crossing the border - billing will be different.

To buy a children's ticket you need the original birth certificate of the child, if he has not yet turned 14 years old. As soon as a son or daughter has his own internal passport, then there is no need to present a birth certificate.

If you buy a ticket at the box office, the document must be presented to the cashier when you make a children's travel document, and then be sure to show it again to the conductor when you board the car.

If you order a ticket on the Internet, you will have to specify all the data on the child, as it is written in the birth certificate or in his passport. The original identity documents of the baby, in this case, you will need to show only once - when boarding the car.

And now a short training video on how to buy a train ticket online.

Under current law, a child can travel by rail with both parents and other attendants, in a peer group or alone. All the nuances are provided for by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation (as amended in 2015).

An unaccompanied child may travel by train from the age of ten on the territory of his country. If he has not yet turned 10 years old, a solitary independent journey is impossible, even if the child has all the documents in order and the parents pay him a children's ticket.

Guys over 10 years old when traveling on their own should have an original ID document in their hands. (birth certificate or passport). For domestic travel, notarized consent from parents is not required. And if it is done, then only to calm moms and dads, and just in case.

Such a document can be useful if the child goes to the competition, and there he may need medical assistance. In this case, the doctors will ask the coach accompanying your child for permission to perform any manipulations. Such an permission can only or not be given by an adult who is recorded in the notarized consent of mother and father. In the train, consent and power of attorney are not asked.

To get a children's train ticket, it is not necessary to go to the station and stand in a queue (especially during the summer months when people spend 8-10 hours at railway ticket offices). You can go to the official website of JSC “Russian Railways”, in the upper left corner there will be a link to the “Passengers” section, by clicking on it, you can select a train, a date and see which seats are left free, book the right one, and pay 24 hours a day using banking cards, bank accounts or by contacting in person the cashier of the station.

And now in detail about how to buy a ticket on the Russian Railways website

When ordering through the Internet, a child's ticket is also issued with all the discounts and privileges that are due to the child. In the form for filling there are columns for entering personal data of the child. There you will need to specify the name, surname and patronymic, as it is written in the birth certificate or passport. Be sure to indicate the date of birth of the son or daughter, the number and series of the document, when and by whom it was issued.

Parents should not be afraid, the personal data of children passengers of JSC “Russian Railways” does not report or transmit anywhere.

When purchasing a children's train ticket, parents can save much more than the benefits provided by age. The fact is that the carrier regularly holds promotions, within which for certain periods of time, for certain routes and directions, for types of cars (coupe or reserved seat), discounts are valid, the value of which reaches 40-50% of the main fare.

In addition, seasonal tariffs apply to Russian Railways. For example, on New Year's holidays, tickets may be 10% more expensive; in summer, during the holiday season, the increase may be up to 15%, and on ordinary weekdays, when there is no passenger rush, prices are reduced by the same 10%.

The average cost of a ticket for your chosen destination can be viewed in any search engine on the Internet (Yandex and Google quite successfully answer this request).

We are interested in the section “Passengers” - “Schedule. Availability and purchase of tickets ”(the active link is in the upper left corner of the site, it is highlighted in red). After you specify the desired date of departure, the city of departure and arrival, choose a train from those trains that are offered by the information system, the car, places in it, specify children's and adult categories of tickets, the exact cost of the trip will be known. It will not change. If there is a special promotion on the direction, the system will inform you about it.

If you have to travel by train outside the Russian Federation, then you should prepare for it more carefully. Today, by rail from our country, you can go to the Baltic countries, the former Soviet republics, to Abkhazia, to China (Moscow-Beijing train), to Finland (Lev Tolstoy train), to France and Germany, to the Czech Republic, to Hungary and Poland.

If the child is accompanied by his parents, he will need a birth certificate, his own passport (if he is 14 years old), or a note about him in his parents' passport (if they have old-style passports, not biometric).

If the child travels with a companion who is not a parent or guardian, he will need a notarized power of attorney, the consent of the mother and father for the trip, which will indicate the purpose of the visit, the name of the accompanying person, his passport details and the approximate length of stay in the country.

Children under the age of majority do not allow self-entry into most countries, exceptions are cases when a child goes to school (this must be confirmed by a college certificate), treatment (confirmed by a service contract with the clinic), if he is met by relatives and this fact is reflected in the parental consent to travel.

The cost of an international children's train ticket can be further reduced by using a pre-order; if a ticket is bought in 40 days, the discount for some destinations can reach 20-40%.

• The safest place in the train is the bottom shelf. Try to take a children's ticket for her.
• If there are fears that the child may fall off the carriage shelf, as the train is pumping, you should take a playpen - a grid that is mounted on the shelf and prevents accidental falling. It should be asked from the conductor, who is obliged to provide such a device for free upon the first request of the passenger.
• The child can use special restraints to avoid falling. How to lay them out, show and tell the conductor. You just need to contact him with the appropriate request.
• If a child has a long-distance train ticket, and it is assumed that he will spend several days on the road, you should take care in advance about the presence of a first-aid kit in the baggage, with the mandatory presence of anti-motion sickness in it.
• Do not take perishables on the road. It will be better if the child eats in the dining car, there are always hot first and second courses, for the quality and freshness of which the chefs are legally responsible, which cannot be said about the merchants of the pies at the stations.
• When traveling with a small child, make sure that he has an impressive stock of personal care products, diapers, and also take something to entertain your child (puzzles, a book, an album and pencils, coloring books, the tablet with cartoons and favorite songs of the child).
• If a child travels without parents, give him a cell phone. So he can always be in touch.
• Explain to the child the rules of conduct on the train, in the reserved seat and coupe, the basics of safety. This will help avoid unpleasant consequences for curious why.