Rail service for rich Russians

A NEW train taking rich Russians to the French Riviera in style and luxury arrived in Nice, some 53 hours after it departed from Moscow.

Launched by Russian Railways, the service is a once-a-week run for those with money and time.

In the era of bullet trains and air travel, this train travels at a sedate 60km/h, and just slightly faster on the return. The journey is 3,000-km long.

For fares ranging from €306 one-way to €1,200 for a luxury compartment, the traveller passes through two dozen cities and a half-dozen countries before reaching Nice.

Rich Russians have long haunted France’s Mediterranean coast.