Sorry for sidetracking your post into the Trans Siberian instead of the rail line you posted.
I would take the rail trip in the video too! I love train travel and I love isolated expanses of snow.
Yes, St. Petersburg is definitely on my list of where I would like to visit. I have a stack of photos that were given to me by someone who visited Russia a few years back. I am so intrigued by the photos because they depict scenes and such that are not seen on websites or in the popular photos of Russia.
Maybe someday I will get my wish to visit Russia. Maybe. I would be okay with the slower and older railway, though. More time to savour that immense land.
Or, maybe I will just wait for that superhighway to be built.
http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2015/04/02/russia-alaska-superhighway/
At a recent meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, put forth a bold plan for a massive trans-Siberian highway.
This superhighway project, called the Trans-Eurasian Belt Development, includes a major roadway to be built alongside the existing Trans-Siberian Railway. And alongside that, the plans include expansive energy infrastructure involving another railway, oil and gas pipelines, as well as electricity and water supply facilities.