Where to Buy Tickets and How to Get There
Tickets can be purchased at the ‘International Railway Ticketing Center’. This is a large yellow building located along Zamchdyn Gudamj, a couple of streets northwest of the train station. Tickets for International trains cannot be purchased at the train station itself.
When you get inside the building you will see a sign on the wall indicating which room to go to, depending on which destination you want to purchase tickets for.
Most staff have some basic English. One is even fluent. It is open everyday from 8am to 7:40pm.
To get there from the centre of Ulaanbaatar take trolley bus number 4, which costs 200 tugrik (under US$0.20) and alight after the trolley bus has finished doing a circular loop in front of the train station. If walking from the centre it could take about 45 minutes to get there depending on how fast you walk.
Tickets for Train 4 to Beijing, China
These tickets are currently not sold until 3pm the day before departure. The train departs on Sunday.
What Information to Provide When Buying the Tickets
This is a simple list of some information to have written down that will make life an awful lot easier when trying to communicate what ticket you want:
- where you want to travel from and to,
- train number,
- date of travel and departure time,
- class of travel (1st or 2nd class)
- upper or lower bunk
It is advisable to have a small notebook and pen with you to write down this information and anything else that might arise whilst purchasing the ticket.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Buying Tickets at the International Railway Ticketing Center, Ulaanbaatar
Refer to article ‘How to Buy Trans-Siberian Train Tickets in Moscow’ for general advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is saving at least US$20 for what is a very straightforward visit to the International Railway Ticketing Center.
Examples of Ticket Prices
One hostel in Ulaanbaatar was quoting prices of between US$130 and US$150 to purchase 2nd class tickets to Beijing. Another purchased them without charging any mark-up for a pair of travellers who had done a tour with them.
However, if purchased directly the current price for the Sunday train number 4 is 130,050 tugrik (US$108) for 2nd class and 217,750 tugrik (US$181) for 1st class. For the Thursday train number 24 the price is 131,050 tugrik (US$109) for 2nd class and 200,850 tugrik (US$167) for 1st class.
Paying for the Ticket
Payment is best made in cash in tugrik.
Richard Milnes - Richard was born in London, England, but has since spent much of his life travelling the world and has visited nearly 50 ...
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