Forget the night train...

A high-speed train link has been launched on one of Russia's busiest railway lines, cutting the journey time between Moscow and St Petersburg by almost half.

With two services a day, passengers will no longer have to face an eight-hour slog, traditionally best endured with vodka on a night train.

And, according to Russian TV channels, within two years the trip will be pared down to a mere two hours.

The new ER 200 can reach 200 km/h

The train is equipped to carry 400 passengers

At about $7, the fare's not extortionate

New train, old-style Russian hospitality

Red carpet treatment for the maiden voyage to Moscow

Japanese rails smooth the way for the new express

The 350km/h Sokol (Falcon) will enter service in 2002

Russia's neglected second city can only gain from the new link

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.