Means of transport, how to leave and arrive at the place of destination

Hello, dear student! Today we will talk about how, when and by means of what transport we can leave and come to Russia. I guess, it's rather important topic as I've met foreigners, who have trouble with using transport in our country; some of them are even afraid of doing it due to some stereotypes about Russia made by foreigners. Recently, I've been signed to the BBC - a British television and radio broadcasting company - so foreigners have told me, they don't know how to use transport at all and, for example, how to come to Saransk.

There are a lot of means of public transport in all Russian cities, but not all of them have the subway, it is only in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Samara, Yekaterinburg and Kazan. These are big Russian cities, but the subway is different everywhere.

Метро [mitro] Underground/subway/tube - is the underground public transport which is very convenient because it helps to arrive at the place of destination quickly and costs not so much. To buy a ticket to subway, you should use the electronic board, where you can buy necessary ticket, or go to a cabin, where a worker sells tickets. To know the price and what trip to use, we use the following phrases:

- Здравствуйте! Мне нужен билет на одну поездку, сколько он стоит? [Zdrastvujte! Mne nuzhin bilet na adnu paezku, skol'ka on stoit?] - Hello! I need a one- way ticket, how much does it cost?

- Если я возьму проездной, это будет дешевле? [Esli ya vaz'mu praiznoj, ekhta budit dishevle?] - If I take a travel card, will it be cheaper?

If you don't like subway or there is no subway in your city, you can always use a bus.

Автобус [Aftobus] A bus - is a kind of public transport, probably, the most common and the cheapest one. A bus always follows a timetable in big cities. There are even apps in a mobile phone, where you can see the time next bus arrives or find its traffic route. In some cities there are "троллейбусы" [tralebusy] trolley buses and "трамваи" [tramvai] trams, but they are much slower and if you are in a hurry, it's better to use, for example, "такси" [taksi] a taxi, although it costs very expensive. Let's look at some phrases, which you'll need on this topic:

- Скажите, пожалуйста, где здесь ближайшая автобусная остановка? [Skazhiti, pazhalusta, gde sdes' blizhajshaya aftobusnaya astanofka?] - Could you, please, tell me where is the nearest bus stop here?

- Вы случайно не знаете, какой автобус идет до Воронежа? [Vy sluchajna ni znaite, kakoj aftobus idyot da Varonizha?] - Don't you know what number of bus goes to Voronezh?

- Где мне найти ближайшее такси? [Gde mne najti blizhajshie taksi?] - Where can I find the nearest taxi (station)?

And, finally, to get round to "пригород" [prigarad] suburb of the city, you can use "электричка" [ekhliktrichka] - an electric train.

Electric trains are usually divided into: ordinary and express. Express is more expensive but is very quick and some trains even have more comfortable seats than in ordinary train.