Russia - Russia - Belarus train and car travel info reuqired

Hi I desperately need the following information:

1- From Moscow going to Minsk by car, is there any border check and queues, are there any control on the way for visa etc....
2- From Moscow going to Minsk by train, is there any passport control in Belarusky vakzal ( where you board in train), also is there any passport check when you get off the train in Minsk. ( I don’t have Belarusian visa so I will decide to apply for it - expensive- visa if there is any control. I plan to travel on 28 May 2009 night so I need urgent answer if anyone has information.
3- Anyone know if there is a passport visa check between Brest (Belarus) - Warsaw or Terespol ( Poland)

4- If I want to by ticket on 27 May 2009, shall I be able to get it ( 1st class or 2nd)

Your answers and experience will be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot

So it sounds like you are trying to visit Belarus without the expense of getting a visa? Don't think it is going to work.

While you almost certainly wouldn't get a passport check coming into Belarus from Russia via train or car; you definitely would at the Polish border. The Belarusians would want to check you had registered (if required), make sure you have not overstayed and give you an exit stamp. There are passport control/customs on the Polish and Belarusian sides.

Also if you were going to spend over 3 working days in Belarus or stay in a hotel, you would have to register somewhere and somebody would notice the lack of visa.

Should be no problem buying a ticket the day before travel, it is not a peak time on a popular route (e.g. Crimea in summer!).

PS Welcome to Flyertalk

PPS Might also be worth searching the Lonely Planet Eastern Europe forum http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=15&start=0