Russian Railways intends to completely close the coastal line in Sochi for two days—November 15 and 16. This applies not only to long-distance trains but also to commuter trains, reports Travel.ru.
No trains will operate on the Tuapse-Sochi section on November 15 and 16, with the exception of two trains and possibly one commuter train heading towards Tuapse late in the evening of November 16. This was due to ongoing bridge repairs near Lazarevskoye. Unfortunately, Russian Railways once again failed or refused to adequately inform potential passengers of the scale of the problem. Russian Railways' announcements only mentioned the cancellation of certain services and the rerouting of several other trains (some trains normally bound for Sochi will be rerouted to Novorossiysk or stopped in Rostov-on-Don). However, the railway company, once again, failed to announce that service on the line would be completely closed.
"We ask passengers to carefully plan their travel during this period," Russian Railways typically states in such announcements. In reality, no train travel can be planned during this period, due to the complete absence of trains arriving in or departing from Sochi on November 15 and 16. The only exception will be two trains departing Adler on the evening of November 16: #680 to Vladikavkaz and #644 to Kislovodsk. However, these trains will not operate on November 14.
It's unclear how the authorities of Sochi and the Krasnodar Krai plan to address the resort's accessibility during these two days, especially since road traffic may be difficult during the winter. Commuter train service will likely only continue east of central Sochi—towards Adler, the Olympic Park, and Krasnaya Polyana. Replacement buses are not yet available.
Even if some additional transportation is established in the Lazarevskoye area, it won't solve the problem of onward travel, as the nearest long-distance trains will only be available in Krasnodar. The Krasnodar-Goryachiy Klyuch-Tuapse and Armavir-Belorechenskaya-Tuapse lines will also be without long-distance trains for these days.
A good solution would have been to organize express trains between Krasnodar and Tuapse (or Lazarevskoye), but Russian Railways once again took the path of least resistance and simply cancelled the Lastochka trains from Krasnodar to Sochi instead of shortening their route.
Passengers from cities with air service to Sochi are advised to fly. It's possible that ticket shortages (or price increases) may occur on some routes.
Source: travel.ru