To travel by Russian trains, every passenger regardless of age must have a ticket with passport details. This rule applies also to children who travel without seat reservation (on the seat of the adult who accompanies this child).
Depending on the route and the carrier, special child fares (discounts) are applied for children of certain ages. The child's age is determined as on the departure date. A 'baby without seat' fare means a free of charge ticket without a reserved seat. In this case, a baby is expected to sit on the same seat as an adult who accompanies it. If you want to guarantee them a separate seat then you will need to buy a child ticket. A 'child' fare means a reduced ticket price - with a discount from an adult's fare.
Child discounts for long-distance trains within Russia, CIS and Baltic countries
These rules are applied to the tickets for long-distance trains within Russia and the countries of the former USSR (Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia):
- A free of charge ticket is available for any child under 5 years old if it travels with an adult and does not occupy a separate seat. One adult can travel with one baby without a seat. Note: for the trains from Ukraine free tickets cannot be booked online (but you can purchase them at the train station).
- The child fare is provided for children under 10 years old and includes a reserve of a separate seat.
- There is no child fare in luxury carriages (VIP compartments with the class of service 1A, 1M, 1И), but it is possible to add a free of charge ticket for a child under 10 years old.
Child discounts for the commuter trains:
These rules are applied to the tickets for short-distance suburban trains:
- A free of charge ticket is available for children under 5 years old.
- A child fare is provided for children under 7 years old.
Child discounts for the international trains (except CIS and Baltic countries)
These rules are applied to the tickets for long-distance international trains in connection with other countries (other than Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), such as France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Chech Republic, Mongolia:
- A free of charge ticket is available for any child under 4 years old if it travels with an adult and does not occupy a separate seat. One adult can travel with one baby without a seat.
- A child fare is provided for children under 12 years old (for some international trains under 10 years old) and includes a reserve of a separate seat.
Child discounts for the international trains between Russia and Finland
These rules are applied to the tickets for long-distance trains in connection with Finland:
- A free of charge ticket is available for any child under 6 years old if it travels with an adult and does not occupy a separate seat. One adult can travel with one baby without a seat.
- A child fare is provided for children under 17 years old and includes a reserve of a separate seat.
- There is no child fare in luxury carriages (VIP compartments with the class of service 1A, 1M).