Commuting on Moscow’s metro can be so educative. This morning I stumbled into into a retro-style wagon honouring the Red Flash. The Red Flash was the back then young Soviet union’s first and thus prestigious bullet speed train connecting two capitals, Leningrad (aka St. Petersburg, the former capital during prerevolutionary times), and Moscow (the incumbent capital).
The Red Flash had his virgin passage in the night between 9 and 10 November 1931.
The history poster I was facing and thus studying during my daily morning ride (at the expense of the latest issue of Harvard Business Review, also inspiring though a bit overpriced) further informed me that the train was equipped with the latest technical gadgets.
The Red Flash became a symbol of the young Bolshevik’s state’s industrial policy.
Today trains from Germany’s Siemens serve this route.