Мы выбрали пригородный поезд, то есть обычную электричку без пересадки.

They are very close in meaning, but they are not exactly the same in tone.

пригородный поезд is the more official or neutral term: a suburban / commuter train.

электричка is the everyday word many Russians actually use for this kind of local train. Historically it means something like electric train, but in real usage it usually refers to a suburban commuter train.

So the sentence first uses the more formal term and then clarifies it with a more familiar one: пригородный поезд, то есть обычную электричку
= a suburban train, that is, a regular commuter train.

то есть means that is, in other words, or that is to say.

It introduces a clarification or restatement:

• пригородный поезд → more formal term
• то есть обычную электричку → explanation in simpler, more everyday language

So here то есть is not adding a new idea; it is explaining the previous phrase.

This is a question of aspect.

выбрали is from the perfective verb выбрать, which means to choose / to make a choice, with focus on the completed result.

So Мы выбрали... means: We chose / We selected...

If you used выбирали instead, from the imperfective выбирать, it would usually suggest:

• the process of choosing,
• repeated choosing,
• or background action.

For example:

• Мы долго выбирали поезд. = We were choosing a train for a long time.
• Мы выбрали поезд. = We chose the train.

In this sentence, the decision has already been made, so выбрали is the natural choice.

Because both words are direct objects of выбрали, so they are in the accusative case.

But accusative forms look different depending on gender and animacy.

• поезд is masculine inanimate
• электричка is feminine

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative:

• nominative: поезд
• accusative: поезд

For feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative singular usually changes -а to -у:

• nominative: электричка
• accusative: электричку

So:

• выбрали поезд
• выбрали электричку

Because the adjective has to agree with электричку in case, gender, and number.

The noun электричку is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

So the adjective обычный must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

That gives:

• обычная электричка = nominative
• обычную электричку = accusative

This is standard adjective-noun agreement in Russian.

Here обычную means ordinary, regular, or standard.

It suggests that this was not some special kind of train, such as:

• an express service,
• a long-distance train,
• or something unusual.

So обычную электричку gives the sense of a normal local commuter train.

Literally, без пересадки means without a transfer or without changing trains.

The key grammar point is that the preposition без always requires the genitive case.

The noun пересадка is nominative singular. After без, it becomes genitive singular:

• nominative: пересадка
• genitive: пересадки

So:

• без пересадки = without a transfer

This is a very common travel expression in Russian.

Yes, без пересадок is also very common.

Both forms can mean without transfers, but the nuance is slightly different:

• без пересадки often refers to the trip as requiring no change
• без пересадок emphasizes no transfers at all, often in a more general or practical sense

In everyday speech, both are natural, and in many contexts the difference is small.

So the sentence’s без пересадки is perfectly normal.

Because то есть introduces an explanatory phrase.

Russian normally sets off this kind of clarification with punctuation, just like English often does with:

• that is
• in other words
• namely

So: Мы выбрали пригородный поезд, то есть обычную электричку...

The comma shows that the second phrase is explaining the first one.

It is in the accusative singular, because it is the direct object of выбрали.

However, it looks exactly like the nominative because поезд is a masculine inanimate noun.

So grammatically:

• nominative: пригородный поезд
• accusative: пригородный поезд

The form does not change, but the function does.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but changing it can shift the emphasis.

The original sentence: Мы выбрали пригородный поезд, то есть обычную электричку без пересадки.

This sounds natural and clear: first the more formal term, then the explanation.

You could rearrange parts of it, but the nuance would change. For example: Мы выбрали обычную электричку без пересадки, то есть пригородный поезд.

This is grammatically possible, but less natural, because now the explanation goes in the opposite direction: from the everyday term to the more formal one.

So the original order is good because it introduces the official label first and then explains it in more familiar language.