The great Trans-Siberian Railway trip from Moscow to Vladivostok is 9,000km long, crosses two continents, 12 regions, 87 cities, and lasts an incredible 150 hours. Not all of us have the holiday time or the desire to sit on a train for 150 hours. So, a joint project by Google and Russian Railways now allows people to experience this epic journey from the comfort of their armchair. The route has been geotagged and embedded with YouTube footage in Google Maps. This allows users to move the train’s position along the route or simply click on a starred location to access the most picturesque moments from the journey. You can also select a soundtrack such as the ‘rumble of wheels’ or an audio book of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, all of which accompany the immersive imagery and fascinating stories along the route. In our Plane Stupid era, we wonder whether virtual travel will become an accepted mode of travel.


Thanks to Gavin Cumine for this story.


References:
Creative Review
PSFK

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