Trans-Siberian Railway ride now available digitally

HAMBURG - Google is known for putting thing online - books and images of houses, for instance. Now it’s put up the Trans-Siberian Railway.

That’s right. Friends of train travel can now experience the complete trip from Moscow to Vladivostok at their desk. Google has put up 150 hours of video material so people can experience the entire 9,226-km ride, the longest continuous rail stretch in the world.

Anyone who wants to experience the whole trip should plan on taking six days in front of their computer. Those in a rush can take a few shortcuts.

For instance, a map is transposed on top of the video, allowing people to jump ahead to parts of the route that interest them. Particularly scenic areas are marked. And, to make sure no-one has to travel in the dark, videos of multiple trips were combined to make sure the entire online route is in daylight.

At the train stops, text appears to tell viewers about local points of interest, but only in English and Russian. To make sure no one gets bored during the trip, there are also multiple audio accompaniment options - authentic train clatter, Russian radio broadcasts or an audio book version of “War and Peace” - of course, in Russian.