Russia's fastest train makes maiden journey

A passenger reacts to the camera as she looks out of a window aboard the Sapsan high speed train in Moscow, December 17, 2009. Russia's first high speed train left Moscow for St Petersburg on Thursday, weeks after a bomb killed 26 on the same busy route.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's first high speed train left Moscow for St Petersburg on Thursday, weeks after a bomb killed 26 on the same busy route.

A rousing burst of recorded brass music accompanied the departure from Moscow of the "Sapsan", which means peregrine falcon in Russian, the planet's fastest bird.

Travelling at up to 250 km (155 miles) an hour, the Sapsan will cut the journey time between Russia's two main cities to three hours 45 minutes from at least four and a half hours, delighting business travellers.

Tickets for the maiden journey of the sleek train which sports a red, aerodynamic-styled nose quickly sold out.

"This is fantastic news for Russia. I changed my plans to take this train. The government should have done this long ago, especially on such a busy route," said Konstantin, one of the passengers.

Sapsan's launch comes as a high profile show of government support for Russia's state-owned railways following the attack on the luxury Nevsky Express train on the same route on the night of November 28.

Islamist militants later claimed responsibility for the bombing, the worst in Russia outside the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region since 2004.

"Of course I am worried about bombs given what happened recently," said passenger and energy ministry official Alexander Savyelev, who snapped pictures of the train's distinctive nose on his mobile phone before embarking from Moscow's Leningradsky station.

"I didn't actually know I was on this train until five minutes ago as my manager booked it. I thought, why is the journey time so short?" he added.

GERMAN-BUILT

The Sapsan was built by German industrial group Siemens, which won a 30-year, 630 million euro ($907.5 million) deal to supply and service eight of the trains in 2006/07.

State-controlled Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin also took the maiden passage.

"I have my ticket and I will take this train," he told a throng of reporters and television crews before heading out onto the freezing platform.

High speed rail tops many government agendas as a more environmentally friendly alternative to short haul flights.

The Sapsan train claims to be quicker than flying when journeys to and from airports are taken into account, though it is much slower than trains in China and South Korea that can top 300 km (185 miles) an hour.

It will run three times a day each way, can carry more than 550 passengers, and will cost $175 for first class and $115 for economy class.

(Additional reporting by Yuri Pushkin and Gleb Stolyrov)