World Notes: Former Soviet Union

For decades the Kremlin kept all air and rail transport in the U.S.S.R. on "Moscow time." Trains and planes arrived in and departed from the farthest reaches of an empire that sprawled over 11 time zones as if everything took place in the capital. Last week decommunized Moscow moved its clocks ahead one hour in a bid to save energy, but the other republics refused to follow. Result: mass confusion.

Trains leaving Moscow now reach neighboring republics one hour early, and then must wait until local time catches up. Trains headed for Russia depart one hour behind Moscow's clock and are expected to make up the difference upon crossing the border -- presumably by burning up the rails. Airliners traveling to Ukraine are reported to be arriving an hour before air-traffic controllers in Kiev expect them. There is little hope for relief until all the republics switch to daylight saving time next March.