Inside Putin’s $24 million luxury ‘ghost’ train

Putin is famously guarded about his private life, refusing to release even simple details like how many properties he owns, whether he has a girlfriend or even whether he is father to a reported family of secret children.

But back in August, as civilians took shelter amid a brutal war in Ukraine, Russian bureaucrats were dealing with an issue that was almost comically far removed.

“The Transportation Administration has received an appeal about the need to install gym equipment Hoist HD-3800 and Hoist HD-3200 instead of Abductor-Standard and Abductor-Technogym in the sports-health wagon No 021-78630,” a Kremlin official wrote at the time, as per CNN.

On Tuesday, leaked documents suggested the “sports health wagon” is used by none other than Putin himself.

While the existence of Putin’s “ghost” train was well-known features such as a secret gym, Turkish bath and beauty suite came as a surprise.

The leaked documents, obtained by London-based research group the Dossier Centre, reportedly stem from exchanges between state-owned Russian Railways and Zircon Service, a company tasked with fitting out the 20-odd cars of Putin’s train.

Included in the leak were glossy brochures spruiking the train’s features, including a lavish gym and spa on wheels designed for Putin.

The sports-health car, numbered 021-78630, was completed in 2018. Photos showed the state-of-the-art Italian Technogym weights and resistance equipment apparently being replaced by new American Hoist machines.

Photos of the car also showed a full cosmetology centre, furnished with a massage table and expensive beauty equipment, including – according to a leaked document – an anti-ageing radio frequency machine designed to tighten the skin.

Other photos showed pink tiled bathroom, home to a A$7 million Turkish steam bath and shower, and a medical suite complete with a lung ventilator, defibrillator and patient monitor.

Elsewhere, an opulent dining car was furnished with plush red carpet, red-and-gold curtains and a glossy 10-seat table.

Many parts of the train are reportedly armoured to prevent the use of listening devices.

The Dossier Centre reports that the train has cost 1.45 billion roubles (A$24 million) in maintenance since 2014.

The centre claims to be able to link the documents directly to high-level Russian officials who report to Putin.

The Kremlin flatly denied the claims, telling CNN: “President Putin does not have such a car in his use or in his ownership.”

Little is known about the movements of Putin’s train, which is not trackable in the way a plane would be, but amateur trainspotters sometimes provide clues as to its whereabouts.

“There is a ghost train on the railways of our country,” one trainspotter wrote alongside an image of what appeared to be Putin’s train he posted on rutrain.com.

“It is not in the timetables or in the Russian Railways systems.”

The train is identified by its characteristic white dome, which houses hi-tech communications antennae that were detailed in the leaked brochures.