Is the reserved seat car really that bad?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

USSR was a great railway power. Vast spaces were intersected in all directions by steel highways, along which wagons with goods and passengers rushed day and night. Titanic in scale, the rail transportation system began to be created under the tsars, and received grandiose development during the communist rule. It was inherited by the Russian Federation and other countries formed after 1991. One of the symbols of passenger transportation of the Soviet era was the reserved seat car, a unique invention of transport economists of a huge country that disappeared from the political map of the world.

Economic background

Passenger traffic in the USSR did not pay for itself. The cost of Aeroflot flights, sea, river and rail trips exceeded the total receipt of money from ticket sales. However, the salaries of Soviet workers did not allow the establishment of transport tariffs even at the level of self-sufficiency, they would have been unbearable for most citizens. Therefore, such an important branch of the national economy as passenger transportation was subsidized by the state. And since the economy as a whole also did not differ in highefficiency, it was not easy to do so.

So this car appeared. The reserved seat has become the optimal solution to such an issue as increasing the capacity of conventional rolling stock, the ability to accommodate more passengers, while maintaining the ability to sleep, eat and meet other needs on a long journey. After all, we do not have Poland, and not Belgium, where you can drive all the way while sitting.

Classes of carriages in a classless society

Despite the declared universal equality, the railroad still left some room for the stratification of the Soviet people according to the degree of material prosperity. The pinnacle of comfort is SV with one-, two- and three-seater compartments of increased convenience. Leaders and other important people traveled in them, who could not get tired on the road. They thought about the "main"! Ordinary citizens traveled in the compartment, whose salary allowed them to buy these tickets, or seconded by reputable enterprises. In nine compartments, separated from the corridor by roller doors, four people were comfortably located, they could stretch their legs, and if they were lucky with their neighbors (tame, non-drinking and not snoring), then the time on the road could be considered successfully spent. The next class car was a reserved seat, the most popular and popular. And already at the very bottom of the comfort rating - overall, almost the same, only worse.

Scheme of a reserved seat car

So, in each department, conditionally fenced off one from the other, and there are nine of them, six people go. It is easy to calculate that the total capacity is 54a passenger with luggage, for whom, in addition to the space under the lower seats, additional third shelves are installed. Naturally, such compaction affected the space allocated for sleep. Approximately 1 meter 70 centimeters - this is the length that a traveler can count on when deciding which way to press his legs. Otherwise, they will stick in the aisle, creating inconvenience for those who need to go to the toilet or it's time to leave.

The side seats in the reserved seat car are considered the most uncomfortable, although, in general, there is not much difference. Experienced passengers ask for the lower shelves, although the upper ones have advantages, they are calmer there. It's good when the toilet is not nearby, otherwise the door rattles, and the smells…

Romance travel

And yet, despite the inconvenience and the acoustic unity of the interior space, the reserved seat car is very popular. The main reason is, of course, economic. But if the conditions were really unbearable, passengers would, of course, find some money to pay extra for comfort and travel in a compartment. In fact, it is in such a carriage that the time of a long journey does not pass so noticeably, people get the opportunity to communicate and even help each other (for example, give up the best seat to an elderly person or lady). After all, we were raised to be collectivists.

The leadership of Russian Railways announced the imminent decommissioning of all second-class carriages. Perhaps we will miss them…