Can I use a document other than a passport to book Russian railways tickets online?
When buying a train ticket (domestic or international) on the Russian railways Website, it asks for the Details of an identity document: the document type and document number.
In "Document type", one Option is called
ЗЗ - Foreign document (passport, identity card, etc.) issued to citizens of the CIS, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and foreign countries
My question is: would the train conductors/ticket controllers accept it if I (an EU citizen) put my ID card number on the ticket instead of my passport number?
In other words: is there a policy that a document used in a train booking must also be acceptable for entry and exit from Russia? The description does not imply such a thing, but does anyone know?
Do the rules differ between domestic and international train tickets?
Tried mailing Russian Railways using Google Translate, but they simply said "they don't decide in these matters".
Best Answer
I think in theory you can. But you must present same ID to the conductor as you've used to book a train.
In practice chances are pretty high that you would be denied boarding by the conductor if you try to use something that does not look like a passport.
Overall, it's highly recommended to have your passport with you at all times in Russia. Especially if you don't look like local / don't speak Russian. Unfortunately you need a passport for way too many things in Russia.
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Answer 2
UPDATE:
Ended up putting my ID Card on the domestic tickets (including the Sapsan), and my passport on the ticket to Kazakhstan.
The lady guarding the entrance to the Sapsan train asked me to point to the "document number" on the ID card, but that was it. Similar with the local trains around Moscow.
On the train to Kazakhstan, however, I got the impression that I did well to put the passport on that ticket.
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