So is it really bad carriage-reserved seats?

The USSR was a great railway power. Huge spaces intersected in all directions by steel trunks, through which day and night carriages with cargoes and passengers rushed. The titanic system of rail transportation began to be created even under the reign of kings, and it received a grandiose development during communist rule. It inherited the Russian Federation and other countries that were formed after 1991. One of the symbols of passenger transportation of the Soviet era was a car-reserved seat, a unique invention of transport economists who disappeared from the political map of the world of a huge country.

Economic background

Passenger transportation in the USSR did not pay for itself. The cost price of Aeroflot flights, sea, river and railway trips exceeded the total receipt of money from ticket sales. However, the salaries of Soviet workers did not allow setting transport tariffs, even at the level of self-sufficiency, they would prove to be prohibitive for the majority of citizens. Therefore, an important branch of the national economy, such as passenger transportation, was subsidized by the state. And since the economy as a whole was also not very efficient, it was not easy to do it.

So this car appeared. The reserved seat became the optimal solution to such an issue as increasing the capacity of conventional rolling stock, the ability to accommodate more passengers, while retaining the opportunity to sleep, eat and address other needs on a long journey. At us after all not Poland, and not Belgium where all way it is possible to pass sitting.

Classes of wagons in a classless society

Despite the declared universal equality, on the railroad, they left some space for stratification of the Soviet people in terms of material wealth. The top of comfort is the CB with one-, two- and three-seat compartments of increased convenience. They traveled leaders and other important people, who on the road could not be tired. They thought about the "main"! In the compartment went ordinary citizens, the salary of which allowed them to buy these tickets, or sent by solid enterprises. In nine compartments separated from the corridor by roller doors, four people were conveniently located, he could stretch his legs, and if he was lucky with his neighbors (quiet, non-drunk and not snoring), the time on the road could be considered a successful one. The next class was a car - a reserved seat, the most popular and popular. And already at the very bottom of the comfort rating - common, almost the same, only worse.

Scheme car wagon reserved seat

So, in each department, conditionally separated from one another, and there are nine of them, six people are traveling. It is easy to calculate that the total capacity is 54 passengers with luggage, for which, in addition to the space below 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 the traveler can count on, deciding which way to press his legs. Otherwise they will stick out in the aisle, creating inconveniences for those who need to go to the toilet or time to go out.

Side seats in the car-reserved seats are considered the most uncomfortable, although, in general, there is no big difference. Experienced passengers are asking for lower shelves, although there are advantages to the upper ones, it is quieter there. Well, when the toilet is not near, and then the door thunders and smells ...

Romance of wanderings

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

The management of RZD announced the imminent write-off of all the reserved cars. Perhaps we will miss them ...