LOCAL

Nathan Toohey

Capsule hotel opens

Russia's first "capsule" hotel has opened on the fifth floor of the new Air Express terminal at Sheremetyevo Airport. The 66-room hotel doesn't conform to the classical Japanese design, where guests sleep in coffin-sized cubicles. Instead the hotel follows a "European" approach, where guests are accommodated in double rooms resembling a ship's two-berth cabins. The rooms, which vary from 7.5 to 22 square metres in size, will start from 1,300 roubles for a four-hour stay, after which guests will pay by the hour. 

"The new hotel is aimed at those who need short-duration relaxation and don't want to over pay for unnecessary services or unused time," said Zemfira Yunusova, director of the Air Express hotel.

Sapsan's ticket prices announced

Ticket prices for the new German-built high-speed train - the Sapsan - have finally been announced. The Moscow-St. Petersburg service, which starts on December 18 and runs three times a day, will cost approximately 2,400 roubles for economy class one way and 4,700 roubles for first class one way. There is a 10 per cent discount for purchasing a return ticket. First-class service includes a hot meal, internet access, travel kit and children's amusement pack. Passengers in economy class can order meals from the train's buffet and will be offered the use of the internet and video and audio players. As a special introductory offer, Russian Railways has discounted tickets for the period of December 18-25 - 2,400 for an economy-class return ticket and 4,700 for first-class return.

Wi-fi at the station

From December 7 every one of the capital's rail terminals will be offering free wi-fi. The hot-spots will cover all the territory of Belorussky, Kazansky, Kievsky, Kursky, Leningradsky, Paveletsky, Rizhsky, Savyolovsky and Yaroslavsky stations.

The railway authorities expect some 1,500 people to use the wireless service every day. Plans call for the programme to be expanded to all major train stations through Russia.