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Trans-Siberian Railway

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Trans-Siberian Railway
VL85 container haul along the coast of Lake Baikal (2008)
Overview
Native nameТранссибирская магистраль (Russian)
StatusOperational
OwnerGovernment of Russia
Locale Russia
Termini
Service
Type
SystemFER, SZhD, V-SibZhD, Z-SibZhD, KrasZhD, SvZhD, ZabZhD
Operator(s)Russian Railways
History
CommencedMarch 9, 1891 (1891-03-09)
OpenedJune 21, 1904 (1904-06-21)
Technical
Line length9,289 km (5,772 mi)
Number of tracks3
CharacterLong-haul route
Track gauge1,520 mm (4 ft 11+2732 in) Russian gauge
Electrification3 kV DC/25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead line
Operating speed60–140 km/h (37–87 mph)
Route map

0 km
0 mi
Moscow
Yaroslavsky
Terminal
59 km
37 mi
Khotkovo
73 km
45 mi
Sergiyev Posad
Greater Ring of the Moscow Railway
112 km
70 mi
Alexandrov
130 km
81 mi
Balakirevo
145 km
90 mi
Berendeevo
165 km
103 mi
Ryazantsevo
191 km
119 mi
Silnitsi
200 km
124 mi
Petrovskoye
210 km
130 mi
Debolovskaya
224 km
139 mi
Rostov-Yaroslavsky
239 km
149 mi
Semibratovo
262 km
163 mi
Kozmodemyansk
281 km
175 mi
Yaroslavl
284 km
176 mi
Yaroslavl-Glavny
289 km
180 mi
356 km
221 mi
Danilov
Sot
394 km
245 mi
Lyubim
Seksha
Brodni
Korega
to Vologda
450 km
280 mi
Bui
Rossolovo
Khramki
501 km
311 mi
Galich
Krasilnikovo
Loparevo
Monakovo
Antrolovo
Nikkolo-Ugol
Nikolo-Poloma
Nomzha
Yelenskiy
Neva
Nelsha
Brantovka
Petrushino
Kostrikha
651 km
405 mi
Manturovo
Vocherovo
Shekshema
Varakinskiy
698 km
434 mi
Sharya
Zeblyaki
Yakshanga
Burunduchikha
Suprotivniy
Metil
Gostovskaya
Shabalino
818 km
508 mi
Svetcha
Yuma
Kapidantsi
Atsvezh
Darovitsa
to Nizhny Novgorod & Moscow
870 km
541 mi
Kotelnich
Bistryagi
Orichi
Strizhi
Lyangasovo
Chukhlominskiy
957 km
595 mi
Kirov
975 km
606 mi
Pozdino
Poloy
995 km
618 mi
Bum-Kombinat
Prosnitsa
Ardashi
Rekmino
1052 km
654 mi
Zuevka
to Verkhnekamskaya, Ivdel & Surgut
Kosa
Falenki
to Verkhnekamskaya & Ukhta
1127 km
700 mi
Yar
Kozmil
1165 km
724 mi
Glazov
to Solkamsk, Serov, Demyanka & Surgut
(with 25 kV 50 Hz AC electrification)
1194 km
742 mi
Balyezino
Pibanshur
to Izhevsk
1221 km
759 mi
1223 km
760 mi
Chepsta
Kez
Kabalud
Kuzma
Borodulino
Subbotniki
1310 km
814 mi
Vereshchagino
Zyukay
1340 km
833 mi
Mendeleevo
Grigorevskaya
1387 km
862 mi
Chaikovskaya
Shabunichi
1410 km
876 mi
Overyata
Kurya
1432 km
890 mi
1436 km
892 mi
Perm
to Solikamsk & Nizhny Tagil
1452 km
902 mi
Ferma
Mulyanka
Yug
Yergach
1534 km
953 mi
Kungur
Kishert
Shumkovo
Tulumbasi
Kordon
Shamary
1672 km
1039 mi
Shalya
Sarga
Sabik
1729 km
1074 mi
Kuzino
1770 km
1100 mi
Pervouralsk
1777 km
1104 mi
Europe
Asia
from Kazan
to Nizhny Tagil
1816 km
1128 mi
Yekaterinburg
Shartash
Putevka
Kosulino
Gagarskiy
Bazhenovo
Gryaznovskaya
1912 km
1188 mi
Bogdanovich
to Serov
Pishminskaya
Yelansky
1955 km
1215 mi
Kamyshlov
Aksarikha
Oshchepkovo
Proselok
2033 km
1263 mi
Talitsa
2064 km
1283 mi
Yushala
Bahkmetskoye
Tugulym
Karmak
2144 km
1332 mi
Tyumen
Voynovka
to Tobolsk & Surgut
Ozero Andreyevskoya
Vinzili
Bogdaninskaya
2222 km
1381 mi
Yalutorovsk
Zavodoukovsk
Novaya Zaimka
Vagay
Omutinskaya
Lamyenskaya
Golishmanovo
Karasulskaya
2431 km
1511 mi
Ishim
Maslyanskaya
Novo Andreyevskiy
Mangut
2565 km
1594 mi
Nazyvayevsk
Dragunskaya
Lyubinskaya
2706 km
1681 mi
Irtysh
2712 km
1685 mi
Omsk
Kormilovka
2760 km
1715 mi
Kalachinsk
Ivanovka
Karatkansk
2885 km
1793 mi
Tatarsk
Kabakly
Chany
Ozero Karachinskoye
Koshkul
Tebisskaya
3040 km
1889 mi
Barabinsk
Kozhurla
Ubinskaya
Kargat
Kokoshino
3212 km
1996 mi
Chulym
Duplenskaya
Lesnaya Polyana
Chik
3322 km
2064 mi
Ob
3332 km
2070 mi
3335 km
2072 mi
Novosibirsk
Mochische
Oyash
Chebula
3463 km
2152 mi
Bolotnaya
3491 km
2169 mi
Yurga
Talmenka
Yashkino
Kholkino
3570 km
2218 mi
Tayga
Likhtach
3602 km
2238 mi
Anzhero-Sudzhensk
Yaya
Izhmorsk
Berikulsk
Antibesskiy
to Asino, Bely Yar,
Nizhnevartovsk & Surgut
3715 km
2308 mi
Mariinsk
Suslovo
Tyazhin
Itat
3849 km
2392 mi
Bogotol
Kritovo
3917 km
2434 mi
Achinsk
to Lesosibirsk & Dudinka
3960 km
2461 mi
Chernorechsk
Kozulka
Zeledeyevo
Kacha
Minino
4098 km
2546 mi
Krasnoyarsk
4101 km
2548 mi
Zlobino
Zikovo
Sorokino
Kamarchaga
Balay
4227 km
2627 mi
Uyar
4262 km
2648 mi
Zaozyornaya
Kamala
Solyanka
Boshnyakovo
4343 km
2699 mi
Kansk-Yeniseysky
4375 km
2718 mi
Ilanskaya
Ingashiskaya
Tinskaya
Reshoti
to Yarki
Klyuchi
Yurti
Tayshet diversion line
to Kostomarovo (Baikal-Amur Mainline)
Biryusinsk
4516 km
2806 mi
Tayshet
4520 km
2809 mi
4555 km
2830 mi
Razgon
Alzamay
4631 km
2878 mi
Kamyshet
Uk
4680 km
2908 mi
Nizhneudinsk
Khingoy
Khudoyelanskaya
Sheberta
Utay
4794 km
2979 mi
Tulun
Shuba
Tulyushka
4875 km
3029 mi
Kuytun
Kharik
Kimeltey
4940 km
3070 mi
Zima
Tiret
Zalari
Golovinskaya
5027 km
3124 mi
Kutulik
Zabituy
5061 km
3145 mi
Cheremkhovo
5087 km
3161 mi
Polovina
Belaya
5124 km
3184 mi
Usolye-Sibirskoye
5133 km
3189 mi
Telma
Kitoy
5160 km
3206 mi
Angarsk
5170 km
3212 mi
Meget
5178 km
3217 mi
Irkutsk-Sort
5185 km
3222 mi
Irkutsk
Kaya
Goncharovo
B. Lug
Podkamennaya
Kultuk
5312 km
3301 mi
Slyudyanka
Utulik
5358 km
3329 mi
Baykalsk
Murino
5390 km
3349 mi
Vydrino
5426 km
3372 mi
Tankhoi
Pereyemnaya
5477 km
3403 mi
Mysovaya
5530 km
3436 mi
Posolskaya
Timlyuy
5562 km
3456 mi
Selenginsk
Talovka
Tataurovo
5642 km
3506 mi
Ulan-Ude
5655 km
3514 mi
Talitsi
5675 km
3526 mi
Onokhoy
Zaigraevo
Chelutay
Ilka
5734 km
3563 mi
Novoilinski
Kizma
5784 km
3594 mi
Petrovsk-Zabaykalsky
Balyaga
Tarbagatai
Novo-Pavlovka
Tolbaga
Khokhotay
5884 km
3656 mi
Bada
Zhipkhegen
5932 km
3686 mi
Khilok
Khushenga
Kharagun
6053 km
3761 mi
Mogzon
Khilok
6093 km
3786 mi
Sokhondo
6125 km
3806 mi
Yablonovaya
Lesnoy
Ingoda
Chernovskaya
Kadala
6199 km
3852 mi
Chita
Peschanka
Atamanovka
Novaya
Makkaveyevo
6265 km
3893 mi
Darasun
6293 km
3910 mi
Karaymskaya
6312 km
3922 mi
Urulga
Zubarevo
Razmakhnino
Solntsevaya
6417 km
3987 mi
Onon
6446 km
4005 mi
Shilka-Pass
Kholbon
6496 km
4036 mi
Priiskavaya
Nerchinsk
6532 km
4059 mi
Kuenga
branch to Sretensk
6593 km
4097 mi
Chernyshevsky-Zabaikalski
6629 km
4119 mi
Bushuley
Khoktonga
6670 km
4145 mi
Zilovo
Ulyakan
Uryum
Sbega
6789 km
4218 mi
Ksenevskaya
Kislyy Klug
Arteushka
Razdolnoye
6906 km
4291 mi
Mogocha
Taptugari
Semiozernyy
7010 km
4356 mi
Amazar
Zhanna
7075 km
4396 mi
7119 km
4424 mi
Yerofei Pavlovich
7211 km
4481 mi
Urusha
7266 km
4515 mi
Takhtamigda
Bamovskaya
7273 km
4519 mi
7306 km
4540 mi
Skovorodino
7323 km
4550 mi
Bolshoy Never
Taladan
Gonzha
7501 km
4661 mi
Magdagachi
Sulus
Tigda
7602 km
4724 mi
Ushumun
Sivaki
Mukhinskaya
Bereya
7723 km
4799 mi
Shimanovskaya
7772 km
4829 mi
Ledyanaya
Buzuli
7815 km
4856 mi
Svobodny
M. Chesnokovskaya
Serishevo
7873 km
4892 mi
Belogorsk
7875 km
4893 mi
Vozhayevka
Pozdeyevka
Yekaterinoslavka
7992 km
4966 mi
Zavitaya
8037 km
4994 mi
Bureya
Domikan
8088 km
5026 mi
Arkhara
Rachi
Kundur-Khabarovskiy
8198 km
5094 mi
Obluchye
Kimkan
to Novy Urgal
8234 km
5116 mi
Izvestkovaya
Birakan
Teploye Ozero
Londoko
8306 km
5161 mi
Bira
8351 km
5189 mi
Birobidzhan
In
8480 km
5269 mi
Volochayevka
Dezhnevka
Nikolayevka
8512 km
5289 mi
Priamurskaya
8515 km
5291 mi
8523 km
5296 mi
Khabarovsk
Korfovskaya
to Nakhodka, Imbo, Selikhino & De-Kastri
8598 km
5343 mi
Verino
8621 km
5357 mi
Khor
Dormidontovka
8642 km
5370 mi
Vyazemskaya
Rozengartovka
8756 km
5441 mi
Bikin
Zvenevoi
Burlit-Volochayevskiy
Luchegorsk
Guberovo
8890 km
5524 mi
Dalnerechensk
8900 km
5530 mi
Lazo
Ruzhino
Lesozavodsk
Shmakovka
Sviyagino
9050 km
5623 mi
Spassk-Dalny
Muchnaya
9109 km
5660 mi
Sibirtsevo
Ipplolitovka
Ozernaya Pad
Dubininskiy
9177 km
5702 mi
Ussuriysk
Baranovsky
Nadezdinskaya
9255 km
5751 mi
Ugolnaya
9289 km
5772 mi
Vladivostok

The Trans-Siberian Railway,[a] historically known as the Great Siberian Route[b] and often shortened to Transsib,[c] is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East.[1] Spanning a length of over 9,289 kilometers (5,772 miles), it is the longest railway line in the world.[2] It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the east.

During the period of the Russian Empire, government ministers—personally appointed by Alexander III and his son Nicholas II—supervised the building of the railway network between 1891 and 1916. Even before its completion, the line attracted travelers who documented their experiences.[3] Since 1916, the Trans-Siberian Railway has directly connected Moscow with Vladivostok. As of 2021, expansion projects remain underway, with connections being built to Russia's neighbors Mongolia, China, and North Korea.[4][5] Additionally, there have been proposals and talks to expand the network to Tokyo, Japan, with new bridges or tunnels that would connect the mainland railway via the Russian island of Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaido.[4]

Route

[edit]
Trans-Siberian line in red; Baikal–Amur Mainline in green

The railway is often associated with the main transcontinental Russian line that connects many large and small cities of the European and Asian parts of Russia. At a Moscow–Vladivostok track length of 9,289 kilometers (5,772 miles),[6] it spans a record eight time zones.[7] Taking eight days to complete the journey, it was the third-longest single continuous service in the world,[when?] after the Moscow–Pyongyang service 10,267 kilometers (6,380 mi)[8] and the former Kyiv (Kiev)–Vladivostok service 11,085 kilometers (6,888 mi),[9] both of which also follow the Trans-Siberian for much of their routes.[10]

The main route begins in Moscow at Yaroslavsky Vokzal, runs through Yaroslavl or Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, and Khabarovsk to Vladivostok via southern Siberia. A second primary route is the Trans-Manchurian, which coincides with the Trans-Siberian east of Chita as far as Tarskaya (a stop 12 km (7 mi) east of Karymskoye, in Chita Oblast), about 1,000 km (621 mi) east of Lake Baikal. From Tarskaya the Trans-Manchurian heads southeast, via Harbin Harbin–Manzhouli railway and Mudanjiang Harbin–Suifenhe railway in China's Northeastern provinces (from where a connection to Beijing is used by one of the Moscow–Beijing trains), joining the main route in Ussuriysk just north of Vladivostok.

The third primary route is the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which coincides with the Trans-Siberian as far as Ulan-Ude on Lake Baikal's eastern shore. From Ulan-Ude the Trans-Mongolian heads south to Ulaanbaatar before making its way southeast to Beijing. In 1991, a fourth route running further to the north was finally completed, after more than five decades of sporadic work. Known as the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM), this recent extension departs from the Trans-Siberian line at Taishet several hundred miles west of Lake Baikal and passes the lake at its northernmost extremity. It crosses the Amur River at Komsomolsk-na-Amure (north of Khabarovsk), and reaches the Tatar Strait at Sovetskaya Gavan.[10]

History

[edit]

Demand and design

[edit]

In the late 19th century, the development of Siberia was hampered by poor transport links within the region and with the rest of the country. Aside from the Great Siberian Route, roads suitable for wheeled transport were rare. For about five months of the year, rivers were the main means of transport. During winter, cargo and passengers traveled by horse-drawn sledges over the winter roads, many of which were the same rivers but frozen.[11]

The first steamboat on the River Ob, Nikita Myasnikov's Osnova, was launched in 1844. However early innovation had proven to be difficult, and it was not until 1857 that steamboat shipping had begun major development on the Ob system. Steamboats began operation on the Yenisei in 1863, and on the Lena and Amur in the 1870s. While the comparative flatness of Western Siberia was served by good river systems, the major river systems ObIrtyshTobolChulym of Eastern Siberia had difficulties. The Yenisei, the upper course of the Angara River below Bratsk which was not easily navigable because of the rapids, and the Lena, were mostly navigable only in the north–south direction, making west–east transportation difficult. An attempt to partially remedy the situation by building the Ob–Yenisei Canal had not yielded great success. These issues in the region created the need for a railway to be constructed.[10]

The first railway projects in Siberia emerged after the completion of the Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway in 1851.[12] One of the first was the IrkutskChita project, proposed by the American entrepreneur Perry Collins and supported by Transport Minister Constantine Possiet with a view toward connecting Moscow to the Amur River, and consequently the Pacific Ocean. Siberia's governor, Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, was anxious to advance Russian colonization of the now Russian Far East, but his plans were unfeasible due to colonists importing grain and food from China and Korea.[13] It was on Muravyov's initiative that surveys for a railway in the Khabarovsk region were conducted.

Before 1880, the central government had virtually ignored these projects, due to weaknesses in Siberian enterprises, an inefficient bureaucracy, and financial risk. By 1880, there was a large number of rejected and upcoming applications for permission to construct railways in order to connect Siberia with the Pacific, but not Eastern Russia. This worried the government and made connecting Siberia with Central Russia a pressing concern. The design process lasted 10 years. Along with the actual route constructed, alternative projects were proposed:

The line was divided into seven sections, most or all of which was simultaneously worked on by 62,000 workers. With financial support provided by leading European financier, Baron Henri Hottinguer of the Parisian bankers Hottinger & Cie, the total cost estimated at £35 million was raised with the first section (Chelyabinsk to the River Ob) and finished at a cost of £900,000 lower than anticipated.[14] Railwaymen argued against suggestions to save funds, such as installing ferryboats instead of bridges over the rivers until traffic increased.

Unlike the rejected private projects that intended to connect the existing cities that required transport, the Trans-Siberian did not have such a priority. Thus, to save money and avoid clashes with land owners, it was decided to lay the railway outside the existing cities. However, due to the swampy banks of the Ob River near Tomsk (the largest settlement at the time), the idea to construct a bridge was rejected.

The railway was laid 70 km (43 mi) to the south (instead crossing the Ob at Novonikolaevsk, later renamed Novosibirsk); a dead-end branch line connected with Tomsk, depriving the city of the prospective transit railway traffic and trade.[10]

Construction

[edit]
Clearing on the right-of-way of the Eastern Siberian Railway, 1895
Construction work being performed by convicts on the Eastern Siberian Railway near Khabarovsk, 1895

On 9 March 1891, the Russian government issued an imperial rescript in which it announced its intention to construct a railway across Siberia.[15] Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II) inaugurated the construction of the railway in Vladivostok on 19 May that year.[16]

Lake Baikal is more than 640 kilometers (400 miles) long and more than 1,600 meters (5,200 feet) deep. Until the Circum-Baikal Railway was built the line ended on either side of the lake. The ice-breaking train ferry SS Baikal built in 1897 and smaller ferry SS Angara built in about 1900 made the four-hour crossing to link the two railheads.[17][18]

The Russian admiral and explorer Stepan Makarov (1849–1904) designed Baikal and Angara but they were built in Newcastle upon Tyne, by Armstrong Whitworth. They were "knock down" vessels; that is, each ship was bolted together in the United Kingdom, every part of the ship was marked with a number, the ship was disassembled into many hundreds of parts and transported in kit form to Listvyanka where a shipyard was built especially to reassemble them.[18] Their boilers, engines and some other components were built in Saint Petersburg[18] and transported to Listvyanka to be installed. Baikal had 15 boilers, four funnels, and was 64 meters (210 ft) long. it could carry 24 railway coaches and one locomotive on the middle deck. Angara was smaller, with two funnels.[17][18]

Completion of the Circum-Baikal Railway in 1904 bypassed the ferries, but from time to time the Circum-Baikal Railway suffered from derailments or rockfalls so both ships were held in reserve until 1916. Baikal was burnt out and destroyed in the Russian Civil War[17][18] but Angara survives. It has been restored and is permanently moored at Irkutsk where it serves as an office and a museum.[17]

In winter, sleighs were used to move passengers and cargo from one side of the lake to the other until the completion of the Lake Baikal spur along the southern edge of the lake. With the Amur River Line north of the Chinese border being completed in 1916, there was a continuous railway from Petrograd to Vladivostok that, to this day, is the world's second longest railway line. Electrification of the line, begun in 1929 and completed in 2002, allowed a doubling of train weights to 6,000 metric tons (5,900 long tons; 6,600 short tons). There were expectations upon electrification that it would increase rail traffic on the line by 40 percent.[19]

The entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway was double track by 1939.[20]

Effects

[edit]
Siberian peasants watching a train at a station, 1902

Siberian agriculture began to send cheap grain westwards beginning around 1869.[citation needed] Agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of serfdom, which was formally abolished in 1861. To defend the central territory and prevent possible social destabilization, the Tsarist government introduced the Chelyabinsk tariff-break (Челябинский тарифный перелом) in 1896, a tariff barrier for grain passing through Chelyabinsk, and a similar barrier in Manchuria. This measure changed the nature of export: mills emerged to produce bread from grain in Altai Krai, Novosibirsk and Tomsk, and many farms switched to corn (maize) production.

The railway immediately filled to capacity with local traffic, mostly wheat. From 1896 until 1913 Siberia exported on average 501,932 metric tons (494,005 long tons; 553,285 short tons) (30,643,000 pood) of grain and flour annually.[21] During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, military traffic to the east disrupted the flow of civil freight.

The Trans-Siberian Railway brought with it millions of peasant-migrants from the Western regions of Russia and Ukraine.[22] Between 1906 and 1914, the peak migration years, about 4 million peasants arrived in Siberia.[23]

Historian Christian Wolmar argues that the railroad was a failure, because it was built for narrow political reasons, with poor supervision and planning. The costs were vastly exaggerated to enrich greedy bureaucrats. The planners hoped it would stimulate settlement, but the Siberian lands were too infertile and cold and distant. There was little settlement beyond 30 miles from the line. The fragile system could not handle the heavy traffic demanded in wartime, so the Japanese in 1904 knew they were safe in their war with Russia. Wolmar concludes:

The railway, which was single track throughout, with the occasional passing loop, had, unsurprisingly, been built to a deficient standard in virtually every way. The permanent way was flimsy, with lightweight rails that broke easily, insufficient ballast, and railroad ties often carved from green wood that rotted in the first year of use. The small bridges were made of soft pine and rotted easily. The embankments were too shallow and narrow, often just 10 ft wide instead of the 16 ft prescribed in the design, and easily washed away. There were vicious gradients and narrow curves that wore out the fringe flanges on the wheels of the rolling stock after as little as six weeks use.[24]

War and revolution

[edit]
Trans-Siberian Railway, c. 1904

In the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the strategic importance and limitations of the Trans-Siberian Railway contributed to Russia's defeat in the war. As the line was single track, transit was slower as trains had to wait in crossing sidings for opposing trains to cross. This limited the capacity of the line and increased transit times. A troop train or a train carrying injured personnel traveling from east to west would delay the arrival of troops or supplies and ammunition in a train traveling from west to east. The supply difficulties meant the Russian forces had limited troops and supplies while Japanese forces with shorter lines of communication were able to attack and advance.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the railway served as the vital line of communication for the Czechoslovak Legion and the allied armies that landed troops at Vladivostok during the Siberian Intervention of the Russian Civil War. These forces supported the White Russian government of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, based in Omsk, and White Russian soldiers fighting the Bolsheviks on the Ural front. The intervention was weakened, and ultimately defeated, by partisan fighters who blew up bridges and sections of track, particularly in the volatile region between Krasnoyarsk and Chita.[25]

There was traveling the leader of legions politician Milan Rastislav Stefanik[26] from Moscow to Vladivostok in March and August 1918, on his journey to Japan and United States of America.[27] The Trans-Siberian Railway also played a very direct role during parts of Russia's history, with the Czechoslovak Legion using heavily armed and armored trains to control large amounts of the railway (and of Russia itself) during the Russian Civil War at the end of World War I.[28] As one of the few fighting forces left in the aftermath of the imperial collapse, and before the Red Army took control, the Czechs and Slovaks were able to use their organization and the resources of the railway to establish a temporary zone of control before eventually continuing onwards towards Vladivostok, from where they emigrated back to Czechoslovakia.

World War II

[edit]

During World War II, the Trans-Siberian Railway played an important role in the supply of the powers fighting in Europe. In 1939–1941 it was a source of rubber for Germany thanks to the USSR-Germany pact. While Germany's merchant shipping was shut down, the Trans-Siberian Railway (along with its Trans-Manchurian branch) served as the essential link between Germany and Japan, especially for rubber. By March 1941, 300 metric tons (300 long tons; 330 short tons) of this material would, on average, traverse the Trans-Siberian Railway every day on its way to Germany.[29]

At the same time, a number of Jews and anti-Nazis used the Trans-Siberian Railway to escape Europe, including the mathematician Kurt Gödel and Betty Ehrlich Löwenstein, mother of British actor, director and producer Heinz Bernard.[30] Several thousand Jewish refugees were able to make this trip thanks to the Curaçao visas issued by the Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk[31] and the Japanese visas issued by the Japanese consul, Chiune Sugihara, in Kaunas, Lithuania. Typically, they took the TSR to Vladivostok, then by ship to US. Until June 1941, pro-Nazi ethnic Germans from the Americas used the TSR to go to Germany.[32]

The situation reversed after 22 June 1941. By invading the Soviet Union, Germany cut off its only reliable trade route to Japan. Instead, it had to use fast merchant ships and later large oceanic submarines to evade the Allied blockade. On the other hand, the USSR received Lend-Lease supplies from the US. Even after Japan went to war with the US, despite German complaints, Japan usually allowed Soviet ships to sail between the US and Vladivostok unmolested.[33] As a result, the Pacific Route – via northern Pacific Ocean and the TSR – became the safest connection between the US and the USSR.[citation needed]

Accordingly, it accounted for as much freight as the North Atlantic–Arctic and Iranian routes combined, though cargoes were limited to raw materials and non-military goods. From 1941 to 1942 the TSR also played an important role in relocating Soviet industries from European Russia to Siberia in the face of the German invasion. The TSR also transported Soviet troops west from the Far East to take part in the Soviet counter-offensive in December 1941.

In 1944–45 the TSR was used to prepare for the Soviet–Japanese War of August 1945; see Pacific Route. When an Anglo-American delegation visited Moscow in October 1944 to discuss the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan, Alanbrooke was told by General Antonov and Stalin himself that the line capacity was 36 pairs of trains per day, but only 26 could be counted on for military traffic; see Pacific Route. The capacity of each train was from 600 to 700 tons.[34]

Although the Japanese estimated that an attack was not likely before Spring 1946, Stavka had planned for a mid-August 1945 offensive, and had concealed the buildup of a force of 90 divisions; many had crossed Siberia in their vehicles to avoid straining the rail link.[35]

Post World War II

[edit]
The Trans-Siberian is a vital link to the Russian Far East.

A trainload of containers can be taken from Beijing to Hamburg, via the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian lines in as little as 15 days, but typical cargo transit times are usually significantly longer[36] and typical cargo transit time from Japan to major destinations in European Russia was reported as around 25 days.[37]

According to a 2009 report, the best travel times for cargo block trains from Russia's Pacific ports to the western border (of Russia, or perhaps of Belarus) were around 12 days, with trains making around 900 km (559 mi) per day, at a maximum operating speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). In early 2009; however, Russian Railways announced an ambitious "Trans-Siberian in Seven Days" plan. According to this plan, $11 billion will be invested over the next five years to make it possible for goods traffic to cover the same 9,000 km (5,592 mi) distance in just seven days. The plan will involve increasing the cargo trains' speed to 90 km/h (56 mph) in 2010–2012, and, at least on some sections, to 100 km/h (62 mph) by 2015. At these speeds, goods trains will be able to cover 1,500 km (932 mi) per day.[38]

Developments in shipping

[edit]

On January 11, 2008, China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Germany agreed to collaborate on a cargo train service between Beijing and Hamburg.[39]

The railway can typically deliver containers in 13 to 12 of the time of a sea voyage, and in late 2009 announced a 20% reduction in its container shipping rates.[citation needed] With its 2009 rate schedule, the Trans-Siberian Railway will transport a forty-foot container to Poland from Yokohama for $2,820, or from Busan for $2,154.[40]

[edit]

Routes

[edit]

Trans-Siberian line

[edit]

A commonly used main line route is as follows. Distances and travel times are from the schedule of train No. 002M, Moscow–Vladivostok.[6]

Location Distance Travel
Time
Time Zone Notes
Moscow, Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal 0 km (0 mi) Moscow
Time (MT)
Vladimir 210 km (130 mi) MT
Nizhny Novgorod 461 km (286 mi) 6 hours MT on the Volga River
Kirov 917 km (570 mi) 13 hours MT on the Vyatka River
Perm 1,397 km (868 mi) 20 hours MT+2 on the Kama River
Yekaterinburg 1,816 km (1,128 mi) 1 day 2 hours MT+2 in the Urals, still called by its old Soviet name Sverdlovsk in most timetables
Tyumen 2,104 km (1,307 mi) MT+2
Omsk 2,676 km (1,663 mi) 1 day 14 hours MT+3 on the Irtysh River
Novosibirsk 3,303 km (2,052 mi) 1 day 22 hours MT+4 on the Ob River; Turk-Sib railway branches from here
Krasnoyarsk 4,065 km (2,526 mi) 2 days 11 hours MT+4 on the Yenisei River
Taishet 4,483 km (2,786 mi) MT+5 junction with the Baikal-Amur Mainline
Irkutsk 5,153 km (3,202 mi) 3 days 4 hours MT+5 near Lake Baikal's southern extremity
Ulan Ude 5,609 km (3,485 mi) 3 days 12 hours MT+5 eastern shore of Lake Baikal
Junction with the Trans-Mongolian line 5,622 km (3,493 mi)
Chita 6,166 km (3,831 mi) 3 days 22 hours MT+6
Junction with the Trans-Manchurian line at Tarskaya 6,274 km (3,898 mi) MT+6
Birobidzhan 8,312 km (5,165 mi) 5 days 13 hours MT+7 capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region
Khabarovsk 8,493 km (5,277 mi) 5 days 15 hours MT+7 on the Amur River
Ussuriysk 9,147 km (5,684 mi) MT+7 junction with the Trans-Manchurian line and Korea branch; located in Baranovsky, 13 km (8 miles) from Ussuriysk
Vladivostok 9,289 km (5,772 mi) 6 days 4 hours MT+7 on the Pacific Ocean
Services to North Korea continue from Ussuriysk via:
Primorskaya station 9,257 km (5,752 mi) 6 days 14 hours MT+7
Khasan 9,407 km (5,845 mi) 6 days 19 hours MT+7 border with North Korea
Tumangang 9,412 km (5,848 mi) 7 days 10 hours MT+6 North Korean side of the border
Pyongyang 10,267 km (6,380 mi) 9 days 2 hours MT+6

There are many alternative routings between Moscow and Siberia. For example:

Circum-Baikal railway
  • Some trains would leave Moscow from Kazansky Rail Terminal instead of Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal; this would save some 20 km (12 mi) off the distances, because it provides a shorter exit from Moscow onto the Nizhny Novgorod main line.
  • One can take a night train from Moscow's Kursky Rail Terminal to Nizhny Novgorod, make a stopover in the Nizhny and then transfer to a Siberia-bound train
  • From 1956 to 2001 many trains went between Moscow and Kirov via Yaroslavl instead of Nizhny Novgorod. This would add some 29 km (18 mi) to the distances from Moscow, making the total distance to Vladivostok at 9,288 km (5,771 mi).
  • Other trains get from Moscow (Kazansky Terminal) to Yekaterinburg via Kazan.
  • Between Yekaterinburg and Omsk it is possible to travel via Kurgan Petropavlovsk (in Kazakhstan) instead of Tyumen.
  • One can bypass Yekaterinburg altogether by traveling via Samara, Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Petropavlovsk; this was historically the earliest configuration.

Depending on the route taken, the distances from Moscow to the same station in Siberia may differ by several tens of km (a few dozen miles).

Trans-Manchurian line

[edit]

The Trans–Manchurian line, as e.g. used by train No.020, Moscow–Beijing[41] follows the same route as the Trans-Siberian between Moscow and Chita and then follows this route to China:

  • Branch off from the Trans-Siberian-line at Tarskaya (6,274 km (3,898 mi) from Moscow)
  • Zabaikalsk (6,626 km (4,117 mi)), Russian border town; there is a break-of-gauge
  • Manzhouli (6,638 km (4,125 mi) from Moscow, 2,323 km (1,443 mi) from Beijing), Chinese border city
  • Harbin (7,573 km (4,706 mi), 1,388 km) Chinese city
  • Changchun (7,820 km (4,859 mi) from Moscow) Chinese city
  • Beijing (8,961 km (5,568 mi) from Moscow) the Chinese capital

The express train (No. 020) travel time from Moscow to Beijing is just over six days. There is no direct passenger service along the entire original Trans-Manchurian route (i.e., from Moscow or anywhere in Russia, west of Manchuria, to Vladivostok via Harbin), due to the obvious administrative and technical (gauge break) inconveniences of crossing the border twice. Assuming sufficient patience and possession of appropriate visas, however, it is still possible to travel all the way along the original route, with a few stopovers (e.g. in Harbin, Grodekovo and Ussuriysk).[citation needed]

Such an itinerary would pass through the following points from Harbin east:

Trans-Mongolian line

[edit]
Trans–Mongolian Railway

The Trans–Mongolian line follows the same route as the Trans-Siberian between Moscow and Ulan Ude, and then follows this route to Mongolia and China:

  • Branch off from the Trans-Siberian line (5,655 km (3,514 mi) from Moscow)
  • Naushki (5,895 km (3,663 mi), MT+5), Russian border town
  • Russian–Mongolian border (5,900 km (3,666 mi), MT+5)
  • Sükhbaatar (5,921 km (3,679 mi), MT+5), Mongolian border town
  • Ulaanbaatar (6,304 km (3,917 mi), MT+5), the Mongolian capital
  • Zamyn-Üüd (7,013 km (4,358 mi), MT+5), Mongolian border city
  • Erenhot (842 km (523 mi) from Beijing, MT+5), Chinese border city
  • Datong (371 km (231 mi), MT+5) Chinese city
  • Beijing (MT+5) the Chinese capital

Highest point

[edit]

The highest point of Trans–Siberian Railroad is at Yablonovy pass at an altitude of 1070m situated in the Yablonoi Mountains, in Transbaikal (mainly in Zabaykalsky Krai), Siberia, Russia. The Trans–Siberian Railroad passes the mountains at Chita and runs parallel to the range before going through a tunnel to bypass the heights.[42]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Транссибирская магистраль, pronounced [trənsːʲɪˈbʲirskəjə məɡʲɪˈstralʲ]
  2. ^ Великий Сибирский Путь, pronounced [vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj sʲɪˈbʲirʲsʲkʲɪj putʲ]
  3. ^ /ˈtrænsɪb/ TRAN-sib; Транссиб, pronounced [trɐnˈsːʲip]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Lonely Planet Guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway" (PDF). Lonely Planet Publications. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2012.
  2. ^ Thomas, Bryn; McCrohan, Daniel (2019). Trans-Siberian Handbook: The Guide to the World's Longest Railway Journey with 90 Maps and Guides to the Route, Cities and Towns in Russia, Mongolia and China (10 ed.). Trailblazer Publications. ISBN 978-1912716081. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  3. ^ Meakin, Annette, A Ribbon of Iron (1901), reprinted in 1970 as part of the Russia Observed series (Arno Press/New York Times)(OCLC 118166).
  4. ^ a b "Russia offers a bridge across history to connect Tokyo to the Trans-Siberian railway". siberiantimes.com. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  5. ^ "New 8,400 mile train journey will connect London to Tokyo". The Independent. September 8, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on December 3, 2009.
  7. ^ Moscow is at UTC+3, Vladivostok is at UTC+10; therefore the line passes through 8 time zones; see map
  8. ^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Pyongyang". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
  9. ^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 350, Kiev-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d "Trans-Siberian Railroad | railway, Russia | Britannica". December 7, 2023.
  11. ^ P. E. Garbutt, "The Trans-Siberian Railway." Journal of Transport History 4 (1954): 238-249.
  12. ^ Alexeev, V.V.; Bandman, M.K.; Kuleshov–Novosibirsk, V. V., eds. (2002). Problem Regions of Resource Type: Economical Integration of European North-East, Ural and Siberia. IEIE. ISBN 5-89665-060-4.
  13. ^ March, G. Patrick (1996). Eastern Destiny: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific. Praeger/Greenwood. pp. 152–53. ISBN 0-275-95648-2.
  14. ^ "The Great Siberian Iron Road", The Daily News (London), 30 December 1896, p. 7.
  15. ^ Davis, Clarence B.; Wilburn, Kenneth E. Jr; Robinson, Ronald E. (1991). "Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Chinese Eastern Railway". Railway Imperialism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0313259661. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
  16. ^ Pleshakov, Constantine (2002). The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima. New York: Basic Books. p. 10. ISBN 0465057926. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d "Irkutsk: Ice-Breaker "Angara"". Lake Baikal Travel Company. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  18. ^ a b c d e Babanine, Fedor (2003). "Circumbaikal Railway". Lake Baikal Homepage. Fedor Babanine. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  19. ^ "Russia's legendary Trans-Siberian railroad line completely electrified". Associated Press. December 25, 2002. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  20. ^ Manley, Deborah (2011). The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Traveller's Anthology. Andrews UK Limited. p. xviii.
  21. ^ Храмков, А. А. (2001). "Железнодорожные перевозки хлеба из Сибири в западном направлении в конце XIX – начале XX вв" [Railroad transportation of bread from Siberia westwards in the late 19th–early 20th centuries]. Предприниматели и предпринимательство в Сибири. Вып.3 [Entrepreneurs and business undertakings in Siberia. 3rd issue]. Barnaul: Изд-во АГУ. ISBN 5-7904-0195-3. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
  22. ^ Subtelny, Orest (2000). Ukraine: a history. University of Toronto Press. p. 262. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
  23. ^ Dronin, N. M.; Bellinger, E. G. (2005). Climate dependence and food problems in Russia, 1900–1990: the interaction of climate and agricultural policy and their effect on food problems. Central European University Press. p. 38. ISBN 963-7326-10-3.
  24. ^ Christian Wolmar, Blood, iron, and gold: How the railroads transformed the world (Public Affairs, 2011), pp 169–70.
  25. ^ Isitt, Benjamin (2006). "Mutiny from Victoria to Vladivostok, December 1918". Canadian Historical Review. 87 (2): 223–64. doi:10.3138/chr/87.2.223. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  26. ^ Kšiňan, Michal (2021). Milan Rastislav Štefánik – Muž, ktorý sa rozprával s hviezdami. Slovart. ISBN 9788055639048.
  27. ^ Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3, pp. 38–50, 52–102, 104–22, 124–28, 140–48, 184–90
  28. ^ Willmott, H.P. (2003). First World War. Dorling Kindersley. p. 251.[ISBN missing]
  29. ^ Martin, Bernd (1969), Deutschland und Japan Im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Musterschmidt Verlag, p. 155
  30. ^ Lowenstein, Jonathan (April 26, 2010). "The Journey of a Lifetime: my grandmother's escape on the Trans-Siberian railway". Telaviv1.
  31. ^ "Jan Zwartendijk. – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum".
  32. ^ "German Intelligence Activities in China during WW I." United States War Department Strategic Services Unit, March 1, 1946
  33. ^ Martin 1969, p. 174
  34. ^ Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord (2001). War Diaries 1939–1945. Phoenix Press. pp. 607, 608. ISBN 1-84212-526-5.
  35. ^ Glantz, David M. (1995). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 278. ISBN 0-7006-0899-0.
  36. ^ Donahue, Patrick (January 24, 2008). "China-to-Germany Cargo Train Completes Trial Run in 15 Days". Bloomberg.com.
  37. ^ Kachi, Hiroyuki (July 20, 2007). "Mitsui talking to Russian railway operator on trans-Siberian freight service". MarketWatch.com.
  38. ^ "Trans-Siberian in seven days". Railway Gazette International. May 5, 2009.
  39. ^ "Beijing to Hamburg fast cargo rail link planned". The China Post. January 11, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  40. ^ "Chapter 4: Freight Rates" (PDF). Review of Maritime Transport. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: 89. 2010. ISSN 0566-7682. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  41. ^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 020, Moscow-Beijing". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
  42. ^ "Yablonovy Range". Farlex, Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2013.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Ames, Edward (1947). "A century of Russian railroad construction: 1837–1936". American Slavic and East European Review. 6 (3/4): 57–74. doi:10.2307/2491700. JSTOR 2491700.
  • Banerjee, Anindita. "The Trans-Siberian Railroad and Russia's Asia: Literature, Geopolitics, Philosophy of History" Clio. Fall2004/Winter2005, Vol. 34 Issue 1/2, pp 19–40.
  • Cherkashin, A. "Trans-Siberian railway and interrelation of economic development of regions." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science Vol. 190. No. 1. 2018 online.
  • Dawson, John W. Jr. (2002). "Max Dehn, Kurt Gödel, and the Trans-Siberian escape route". Notices of the AMS. 49 (9).
  • Dmitriev-Mamanov, A.I. and A. F. Zdziarski, eds. Guide to the Great Siberian Railway 1900 (reprinted by David & Charles, 1971), the official guide; also covers the local towns and people. online
  • Faulstich, Edith M. (1972–1977). The Siberian Sojourn. Yonkers, New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Garbutt, P. E. "The Trans-Siberian Railway." Journal of Transport History 4 (1954): 238–249.
  • Grams, Grant W. (2021). Return Migration of German Nationals from the United States and Canada, 1933–1941 (Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland Publications_
  • Hookham, Hilda. "Builders of the Trans-Siberian Railway" History Today (Aug 1966), Vol. 16 Issue 8, pp. 528–37
  • Jefferson, Robert L. Roughing it in Siberia ((Sampson Low, Marston, 1987)
  • Marks, S.G. (1991). Road to Power: The Trans-Siberian Railroad and the Colonization of Asian Russia, 1850–1917. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-2533-6.
  • Meakin, Annette M. B. A Ribbon of Iron (BiblioLife, 2009).
  • Metzer, Jacob (1976). "Railroads in Tsarist Russia: Direct gains and implications". Explorations in Economic History. 13 (1): 85–111. doi:10.1016/0014-4983(76)90006-1.
  • Miller, Elisa B. (1978). "The Trans-Siberian landbridge, a new trade route between Japan and Europe: issues and prospects". Soviet Geography. 19 (4): 223–43. doi:10.1080/00385417.1978.10640225.
  • Mironova, Marina Nikolaevna, Natalia Gennadievna Kuznetsova, and Aleksandr Nikolaevich Sholudko. "Types of cities of the Trans-Siberian railway: Dynamics of population and industrial functions." RUDN Journal of Economics 25.4 (2017): 553–565.
  • North, Robert N. (1979). Transport in western Siberia: Tsarist and Soviet development. University of British Columbia Press.
  • Pepe, Jacopo Maria. "The "Eastern Polygon" of the Trans-Siberian rail line: a critical factor for assessing Russia's strategy toward Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific." Asia Europe Journal 18.3 (2020): 305-324.
  • Read, Arnot. From Peking to Petersburg (BiblioLife, 2009
  • Reichman, Henry (1988). "The 1905 Revolution on the Siberian Railroad". Russian Review. 47 (1): 25–48. doi:10.2307/130442. JSTOR 130442.
  • Richmond, Simon (2009). Trans-Siberian Railway. Lonely Planet. Guide book for travelers
  • Sahi, Juha. "The Trans-Siberian railway as a corridor of trade between Finland and Japan in the midst of world crises." Journal of Transport History 36.1 (2015): 58–76.
  • Thomas, Bryn (2003). The Trans-Siberian Handbook (6th ed.). Trailblazer. ISBN 1-873756-70-4. Guide book for travelers
  • Tupper, Harmon (1965). To the great ocean: Siberia and the Trans-Siberian Railway. Little, Brown., wide-ranging popular history.
  • Westwood, John Norton (1964). A history of Russian railways. G. Allen and Unwin.
  • Калиничев, В.П. (1991). Великий Сибирский путь (историко-экономический очерк) (in Russian). Москва: Транспорт. ISBN 5-277-00758-X.
  • Omrani, Bijan (2010). Asia Overland: Tales of Travel on the Trans-Siberian and Silk Road. Odyssey Publications. ISBN 978-962-217-811-3.
  • Walker, Robert. The Trans-Siberian Railway Encyclopedia.
  • Wolmar, Christian (2013). To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Express, the World's Greatest Railroad. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-0857890375.
[edit]
KML is from Wikidata
External videos
on RT Documentary Official YouTube Channel(in English)
video icon Trans-Siberian Odyssey (Trailer) on YouTube
video icon Sad holiday parting & bumpy start – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E1) on YouTube
video icon Irate passengers, strange guests & holiday cheer – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E2) on YouTube
video icon Father Frost and a Snowmaiden pay the train a visit – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E3) on YouTube
video icon Father Frost and a Snowmaiden pay the train a visit – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E4) on YouTube
video icon Cabin fever, Christmas carols, and a concerning call – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E5) on YouTube
video icon Bargains in Russia's Far East & short circuit in a freight car – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E6) on YouTube
video icon Food poisoning on board & a tough decision – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E7) on YouTube
video icon Raw nerves, ruined rendezvous, and a tragedy dodged – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E8) on YouTube
video icon A joyous arrival & nervous reunion – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E9) on YouTube