Кеңес Одағының қала маңындағы электр пойыздары

Eastern Bloc suburban electrical multiple unit passenger train

Elektrichka (электри́чка; електри́чка) is a Soviet and Eastern bloc commuter (regional) mostly suburban electrical multiple unit passenger train. Elektrichkas are widespread in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former Warsaw Pact presenting a socially vital mode of transportation. In 2007, 4085 commuter trains a day (in each direction) were running on the Russian Railways network alone, most of them electric. The first elektrichka train on July 6, 1926, along the Baku–Sabunchi line in Soviet Azerbaijan. Also urban (intra city) gorodskaya elektrichkas and airport's aeroexpresses exist in a few cities of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

"Elektrichka" was initially a colloquial abbreviation for elektropoyezd (электропо́езд, electric train), the official term for electrical multiple unit passenger train in respective languages. However, it is gradually becoming a part of the official trademark names. For instance, the new intra city train service in Kyiv is officially called "elektrychka" in Ukrainian. The popular Internet search engine Yandex officially uses Russian "elektrichka" in its branded online schedule services. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the term "Elektrichka" is not in use with non Russian speaking population in some countries where native Slavic language speakers are not in the majority.

All elektrichkas are overhead line fed electrical multiple unit (EMU) trains, usually consisting of 4 to 14 cars with a driver's cab at both ends. A 10 car train has a capacity of 1,200 passengers. The Soviet trains were manufactured at the Riga Wagon Plant in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, and bore the "ER" (elektropoezd rizhskiy; Cyrillic: ЭР, электропоезд рижский) model designation. The plant was the only manufacturer from the 1950s until the break up of the Soviet Union. The most widespread elektrichka models are the ER 2 (ЭР 2) and ER 9 (ЭР 9) (using DC and AC traction respectively); later models in use are mostly their variants and successors. ER 2 and ER 9 trains contain an even number of cars; of each adjacent pair, one is equipped with motors and the other carries pneumatic equipment. Cars with cabs carry pneumatic equipment, and motor cars are easily recognizable because of pantographs on their roofs. Not every car is equipped with toilets; on some trains there are as few as two per train, near the driver's cab. Each car has four automatic doors, two on each side. When the train stops, doors on the platform side open simultaneously. Doors may be equipped with stairs, to allow for low station platforms. The doors are narrower than in metro trains. An elektrichka is bare bones transportation with simple benches (each seating three) next to the windows. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union some successor nations started production of new elektrichka models with limited success. Due to underfunding during the 1990s, railways continue to use Soviet built trains, preferring renovation over replacement. Consequently, most elektrichkas in use are similar in appearance, differing only in livery; the Soviet era standard was dark green, with red stripes on the front and a yellow stripe on the side of the train. Some newer models have wider doors or other electric engines, for example ED4 and ЭП2Д series, cars are 1.5 windows longer and have wider doors, or ET4A with asynchronous motors.