Moscow's Yaroslavsky station is the terminus for the Trans-Siberian railway. It is here that on alternative evenings Russia's Train No. 2 embarks on its week long journey to Vladivostok. Fyodor Schechtel's main station building has a hint of the exotic with its turrets and art nouveau foibles. A picture by Ivan Kulikov is on display in the station. It depicts peasants busy harvesting apples in Russia's Far East, an idealised rural scene that invites even hesitant travellers to join the train in the firm knowledge that, however uncomfortable the journey, it will all be worth it in the end.
Great travel myths
We were intrigued to read a recent account in an English newspaper of a journey along "he most northerly railway in the world". The Ofoten railway from Kiruna in Sweden to Narvik in Norway is without doubt one of the most remarkable train journeys ...