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Trans-Siberian Railway

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For other uses, see Trans-Siberian (disambiguation).
Trans-Siberian Railway
Bridge over the Kama River, near Perm, built in 1912
Service
Operator(s)Russian Railways
Technical
Line length9,289 km (5,772 mi)
Track gauge1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge
ElectrificationYes
Route map

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

Route interactive map

The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR, Russian: Транссибирская магистраль, romanized: Transsibirskaya magistral', IPA: [trənsʲsʲɪˈbʲirskəjə məgʲɪˈstralʲ]) is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East.[1] With a length of 9,289 kilometres (5,772 miles), from Moscow to Vladivostok, it is the longest railway line in the world. There are connecting branch lines into Mongolia, China and North Korea. It has connected Moscow with Vladivostok since 1916, and is still being expanded.

It was built between 1891 and 1916 under the supervision of Russian government ministers personally appointed by Tsar Alexander III and his son, the Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II). Even before it had been completed, it attracted travellers who wrote of their adventures.[2]

Route description

The railway is often associated with the main transcontinental Russian line that connects hundreds of large and small cities of the European and Asian parts of Russia. At a Moscow–Vladivostok track length of 9,289 kilometres (5,772 miles),[3] it spans a record eight time zones.[4] Taking eight days to complete the journey, it is the third-longest single continuous service in the world, after the Moscow–Pyongyang 10,267 kilometres (6,380 mi)[5] and the Kiev–Vladivostok 11,085 kilometres (6,888 mi)[6] services, both of which also follow the Trans-Siberian for much of their routes.

The main route of the Trans-Siberian Railway begins in Moscow at Yaroslavsky Vokzal, runs through Yaroslavl, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, 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 and Mudanjiang in China's Northeastern Provinces (from where a connection to Beijing is used by one of the Moscow–Beijing trains), joining with the main route in Ussuriysk just north of Vladivostok. This is the shortest and the oldest railway route to Vladivostok. While there are currently no traverse passenger services (enter China from one side and then exit China and return to Russia on the other side) on this branch, it is still used by several international passenger services between Russia and China.[citation needed]

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 Ulaan-Baatar 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. On 13 October 2011, a train from Khasan made its inaugural run to Rajin, North Korea.

History

Demand and design

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

The first steamboat on the River Ob, Nikita Myasnikov's Osnova, was launched in 1844. But early beginnings were difficult, and it was not until 1857 that steamboat shipping started developing on the Ob system in a serious way. Steamboats started operating on the Yenisei in 1863, and on the Lena and Amur in the 1870s. While the comparative flatness of Western Siberia was at least fairly well served by the gigantic Ob–Irtysh–Tobol–Chulym river system, the mighty rivers of Eastern Siberia—the Yenisei, the upper course of the Angara River (the Angara below Bratsk was not easily navigable because of the rapids), and the Lena—were mostly navigable only in the north-south direction. An attempt to partially remedy the situation by building the Ob-Yenisei Canal was not particularly successful. Only a railway could be a real solution to the region's transport problems.

The first railway projects in Siberia emerged after the completion of the Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway in 1851.[7] One of the first was the Irkutsk–Chita 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, to the Pacific Ocean. Siberia's governor, Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, was anxious to advance the colonisation of the Russian Far East, but his plans could not materialise as long as the colonists had to import grain and other food from China and Korea.[8] 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, because of the weakness of Siberian enterprises, a clumsy bureaucracy, and fear of financial risk. By 1880, there were a large number of rejected and upcoming applications for permission to construct railways 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 route actually constructed, alternative projects were proposed:

The line was divided into seven sections, on all or most of which work proceeded simultaneously, using the labour of 62,000 men. The total cost was estimated at £35 million sterling; the first section (Chelyabinsk to the River Ob) was finished at a cost £900,000 less than the estimate.[9] Railwaymen fought against suggestions to save funds, for example, by installing ferryboats instead of bridges over the rivers until traffic increased. The designers insisted and secured the decision to construct an uninterrupted railway.[citation needed]

Unlike the rejected private projects that intended to connect the existing cities demanding 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. Tomsk was the largest city, and the most unfortunate, because the swampy banks of the Ob River near it were considered inappropriate for a bridge. The railway was laid 70 km (43 mi) to the south (instead crossing the Ob at Novonikolaevsk, later renamed Novosibirsk); just a dead-end branch line connected with Tomsk, depriving the city of the prospective transit railway traffic and trade.[citation needed]

Construction

In March 1890, the Tsarevich (later Tsar Nicholas II) personally inaugurated the construction of the Far East segment of the Trans-Siberian Railway during his stop at Vladivostok, after visiting Japan at the end of his journey around the world. Nicholas II made notes in his diary about his anticipation of travelling in the comfort of "the tsar's train" across the unspoiled wilderness of Siberia. The tsar's train was designed and built in St. Petersburg to serve as the main mobile office of the tsar and his staff for travelling across Russia.[citation needed]

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.[10] Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II) inaugurated the construction of the railway in Vladivostok on 19 May that year.[11] The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was overseen by Sergei Witte, who was then finance minister. Similar to the First Transcontinental Railroad in the US, Russian engineers started construction at both ends and worked towards the centre. From Vladivostok the railway was laid north along the right bank of the Ussuri River to Khabarovsk at the Amur River, becoming the Ussuri Railway.[citation needed]

In 1890, a bridge across the Ural River was built and the new railway entered Asia. The bridge across the Ob River was built in 1898 and the small city of Novonikolaevsk, founded in 1883, grew into the large Siberian city of Novosibirsk. In 1898 the first train reached Irkutsk and the shores of Lake Baikal about 60 kilometres (37 miles) east of the city. The railway ran on to the east, across the Shilka and Amur rivers and soon reached Khabarovsk. The Vladivostok to Khabarovsk section was built slightly earlier, in 1897. Russian soldiers, as well as convict labourers from Sakhalin and other places were used for building the railway.[citation needed]

Lake Baikal is more than 640 kilometres (400 miles) long and more than 1,600 metres (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.[12][13]

The Russian admiral and explorer Stepan Makarov (1849–1904) designed Baikal and Angara but they were built in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, by Armstrong Whitworth. They were "knock down" vessels; that is, each ship was bolted together in England, 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.[13] Their boilers, engines and some other components were built in Saint Petersburg[13] and transported to Listvyanka to be installed. Baikal had 15 boilers, four funnels, and was 64 metres (210 ft) long. it could carry 24 railway coaches and one locomotive on the middle deck. Angara was smaller, with two funnels.[12][13]

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[12][13] but Angara survives. It has been restored and is permanently moored at Irkutsk where it serves as an office and a museum.[12]

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 remains to this day the world's longest railway line. Electrification of the line, begun in 1929 and completed in 2002, allowed a doubling of train weights to 6,000 tonnes. There were expectations upon electrification that it would increase rail traffic on the line by 40 percent.[14]

The additional Chinese Eastern Railway was constructed as the Russo-Chinese part of the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Russia with China and providing a shorter route to Vladivostok. A Russian staff and administration based in Harbin operated it.[citation needed]

Effects

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 destabilisation, 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 tonnes (30,643,000 pood) of grain and flour annually.[15] 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.[16] Between 1906 and 1914, the peak migration years, about 4 million peasants arrived in Siberia.[17] Despite the low speed and low possible weights of trains, the railway fulfilled its promised role as a transit route between Europe and East Asia.

War and revolution

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 travelling from east to west would delay the arrival of troops or supplies and ammunition in a train travelling from west to east. The supply difficulties meant the Russian forcess 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.[18]

The Trans-Siberian Railway also played a very direct role during parts of Russia's history, with the Czechoslovak Legion using heavily armed and armoured trains to control large amounts of the railway (and of Russia itself) during the Russian Civil War at the end of World War I.[19] As one of the few organised 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 organisation 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

Main article: Pacific Route

During World War II, the Trans-Siberian Railway played an important role in the supply of the powers fighting in Europe. During the first two years of the war the USSR had secretly agreed to a neutrality and non-aggression pact with Germany. While Germany's merchant shipping was interdicted by the Western allies, the Trans-Siberian Railway (along with its Trans-Manchurian branch) served as the essential link between Germany and Japan. One commodity particularly essential for the German war effort was natural rubber, which Japan was able to source from South-East Asia (in particular, French Indochina).[citation needed]

As of March 1941, 300 tonnes of this material would, on average, traverse the Trans-Siberian Railway every day on its way to Germany. According to one analysis of the natural rubber supply chain, as of 22 March 1941, 5,800 tonnes of this essential material were transiting on the Soviet railway network between the borders of Manchukuo and the Third Reich, 2,000 tonnes were transiting Manchukuo, 4,000 tonnes were sitting in Dairen, 3,800 tonnes were in Japan, and 5,700 tonnes, on the way from South-East Asia to Japan.[20]

At this 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.[21] Several thousand Jewish refugees were able to make this trip thanks to the Japanese visas issued by the Japanese consul, Chiune Sugihara, in Kaunas, Lithuania. Typically they would travel east on the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Pacific Ocean where they would board a ship bound for the USA.[citation needed]

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 (blockade runners) and later large oceanic submarines in an attempt to evade the allied maritime patrols. On the other hand, the USSR became the recipient of lend lease supplies from the USA. Even though Japan went to war with the USA, it was anxious to preserve good relations with the USSR and, despite German complaints, usually allowed Soviet ships to sail between the USA and Russia's Pacific ports unmolested.[22] This contrasted with Germany and Britain's behaviour; their navies would destroy or capture neutrals' ships sailing to their respective adversaries. As a result, the Pacific Route – involving crossing the northern Pacific Ocean and the Trans-Siberian Railway – became the safest connection between the USA and the USSR.[citation needed]

Accordingly, it accounted for as much freight as the two other routes (North Atlantic–Arctic and Iranian) combined, though cargoes were limited to raw materials and non-military goods (locomotives, clothing, foodstuffs etc.). From 1941–42 the railway also played an important role in relocating Soviet industries from European Russia to Siberia in the face of the German invasion.

The railway transported Soviet troops west from the Far East to take part in the Soviet counter-offensive in December 1941, and later east from Germany to the Japanese front in preparation for the Soviet–Japanese War of August 1945. Although the Japanese estimated that an attack was not likely before Spring 1946, Stakva 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.[23]

Today

The Trans-Siberian line remains the most important transport link within Russia; around 30% of Russian exports travel on the line. While it attracts many foreign tourists, it gets most of its use from domestic passengers.

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

Today the Trans-Siberian Railway carries about 200,000 containers per year to Europe. Russian Railways intends to at least double the volume of container traffic on the Trans-Siberian and is developing a fleet of specialised cars and increasing terminal capacity at the ports by a factor of 3 to 4. By 2010, the volume of traffic between Russia and China could reach 60 million tons (54 million tonnes), most of which will go by the Trans-Siberian.[24]

With perfect coordination of the participating countries' railway authorities, 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[25] and typical cargo transit time from Japan to major destinations in European Russia was reported as around 25 days.[26]

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). However, in early 2009, Russian Railways announced an ambitious "Trans-Siberian in Seven Days" programme; 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 2010–12, 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.[27]

Developments in shipping

Main article: Trans-Eurasia Logistics

On 11 January 2008, China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany agreed to collaborate on a cargo train service between Beijing and Hamburg.[28]

The railway can typically deliver containers in 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 of the time of a sea voyage, and in late 2009 announced a 20% reduction in its container shipping rates. With its 2009 rate schedule, the TSR will transport a forty-foot container to Poland from Yokohama for $2,820, or from Busan for $2,154.[29]

One of the most complicating factors related to such ventures is the fact that the CIS states' broad railway gauge is incompatible with China and Western and Central Europe's standard gauge. Therefore, a train travelling from China to Western Europe would encounter gauge breaks twice: at the Chinese–Mongolian or the Chinese–Russian frontier and at the Ukrainian or the Belorussian border with Central European countries.[citation needed]

TransSiberian route in 7 days

In 2008, the Russian Railways JSC (state company) launched a program for the accelerated delivery of containers cargo by block trains from the Far-Eastern ports (Vladivostok, Nakhodka and others) to the western borders of Russia, called "Transsib in 7 days". Within the framework of the program it is planned to decrease the cargo delivery time from the Far East from 11 days in 2008 to 7 days in 2015. The length of the routes is about 10,000 km. The speed of delivery via the block trains should increase from 900 km per day in 2008 to 1,500 km per day in 2015. The first accelerated experimental block-train was launched in February 2009 from the Vladivostok station to Moscow. The length of the route was about 9,300 km, the actual time of the experimental train's delivery was 7 days and 5 hours, the average route speed was up to 1,289 km / day. The maximum route speed of the train was 1,422 km / day.

  • Start of Trans-Siberian railway in Moscow.
    Start of Trans-Siberian railway in Moscow.
  • Bashkir switchman near the town Ust' Katav on the Yuryuzan River between Ufa and Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains region, c. 1910
    Bashkir switchman near the town Ust' Katav on the Yuryuzan River between Ufa and Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains region, c. 1910
  • View from the rear platform of the Simskaia railway station of the Samara–Zlatoust Railway, c. 1910
    View from the rear platform of the Simskaia railway station of the Samara–Zlatoust Railway, c. 1910
  • Almost every station on Trans-Siberian Railway have food sellers, often by local vendors which sell local food such as fish (like Baikal omul), pirozhki, and potatoes. Beside food-stands there are also small kiosks
    Almost every station on Trans-Siberian Railway have food sellers, often by local vendors which sell local food such as fish (like Baikal omul), pirozhki, and potatoes. Beside food-stands there are also small kiosks
  • Snow in late-April at Nazyvayevsk station, Siberia.
    Snow in late-April at Nazyvayevsk station, Siberia.
  • The train ferry SS Baikal in service on Lake Baikal
    The train ferry SS Baikal in service on Lake Baikal
  • Train entering a Circum-Baikal tunnel west of Kultuk
    Train entering a Circum-Baikal tunnel west of Kultuk
  • Vladivostok terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway
    Vladivostok terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway
  • The marker for kilometre 9,288 at the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway at Vladivostok railway station
    The marker for kilometre 9,288 at the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway at Vladivostok railway station

Routes

Trans-Siberian line

A commonly used main line route is as follows. Distances and travel times are from the schedule of train No. 002M, Moscow–Vladivostok.[3]

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)
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+3 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) 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)
Birobidzhan 8,312 km (5,165 mi) 5 days 13 hours 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) junction with the Trans-Manchurian line and Korea branch; located in Varanovsky, 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:

  • 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 travelling 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.

Trans-Manchurian line

Main articles: Trans-Manchurian Railway and China Far East Railway

The Trans-Manchurian line, as e.g. used by train No.020, Moscow–Beijing[30] 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), 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 town
  • Harbin (7,573 km (4,706 mi), 1,388 km)
  • Changchun (7,820 km (4,859 mi) from Moscow)
  • Beijing (8,961 km (5,568 mi) from Moscow)

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. However, assuming sufficient patience and possession of appropriate visas, 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

Main article: 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 town
  • Erenhot (842 km (523 mi) from Beijing, MT+5), Chinese border town
  • Datong (371 km (231 mi), MT+5)
  • Beijing (MT+5)

Future proposals

New lines

New lines between Perm and Mariinsk via Ural base tunnel, Nizhny Tagil, Tyumen and Tomsk, from Krasnoyarsk via Eniseisk, Ermakovo, Igarka to Dudinka, from Kirov via Tobolsk, Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk, Eniseisk to Bratsk, and from Nizhny Tagil via Tobolsk and Tomsk to Eniseisk are proposed.

  • Details:
    • Track gauge: 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge
    • Electrification: 25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead lines
    • Loading gauge: 4.1 metres (13.5 feet) wide and 6.15 metres (20.2 feet) tall
    • Platform height: 200 mm (7.9 in) above rails
    • Minimum overhead line height: 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) above rails

Proposed platform heights by routes

High platform line

Moscow-Kazanskaya - Ryazan - Samara - Ufa - Chelyabinsk - Kurgan route should be 1,100 mm (43.3 in) for DC EMUs and 550 mm (21.7 in) for the other trains.

Low platform lines

Trans-Siberian lines except high platform line (see above) should be 200 mm (7.9 in) for most platforms and 550 mm (21.7 in) for some platforms.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Lonely Planet Guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway" (PDF). Lonely Planet Publications. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Meakin, Annette, A Ribbon of Iron (1901), reprinted in 1970 as part of the Russia Observed series (Arno Press/New York Times)(OCLC 118166).
  3. ^ a b "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Moscow is at UTC+3, Vladivostok is at UTC+10; therefore the line passes through 8 time zones; see map
  5. ^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Pyongyang". Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 350, Kiev-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ March, G. Patrick (1996). Eastern Destiny: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific. Praeger/Greenwood. pp. 152–53. ISBN 0-275-95648-2.
  9. ^ "The Great Siberian Iron Road", The Daily News (London), 30 December 1896, pg. 7.
  10. ^ 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 9780313259661. Retrieved 24 July 2015 – via Questia. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Pleshakov, Constantine (2002). The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima. New York: Basic Books. p. 10. ISBN 0465057926. Retrieved 3 October 2015 – via Questia. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ a b c d "Irkutsk: Ice-Breaker "Angara"". Lake Baikal Travel Company. Lake Baikal Travel Company. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e Babanine, Fedor (2003). "Circumbaikal Railway". Lake Baikal Homepage. Fedor Babanine. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  14. ^ "Russia's legendary Trans-Siberian railroad line completely electrified". Associated Press. 25 December 2002. Retrieved 14 June 2015 – via HighBeam Research. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ 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]. Барнаул: Изд-во АГУ. ISBN 5-7904-0195-3. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2006-07-01. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Subtelny, Orest (2000). Ukraine: a history. University of Toronto Press. p. 262. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Isitt, Benjamin. "Mutiny from Victoria to Vladivostok, December 1918". Canadian Historical Review. 87 (2): 223–64. doi:10.3138/chr/87.2.223. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  19. ^ Willmott, H.P. (2003). First World War. Dorling Kindersley. p. 251.
  20. ^ Martin, Bernd (1969), Deutschland und Japan Im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Musterschmidt Verlag, p. 155
  21. ^ Lowenstein, Jonathan (26 April 2010). "The Journey of a Lifetime: my grandmother's escape on the Trans-Siberian railway". Telaviv1.
  22. ^ Martin 1969, p. 174
  23. ^ Glantz, David M. (1995). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Kansas, USA: University Press of Kansas. p. 278. ISBN 0-7006-0899-0.
  24. ^ "Transsiberian Railway (from Russian Railways official website)". Eng.rzd.ru. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Donahue, Patrick (24 January 2008). "China-to-Germany Cargo Train Completes Trial Run in 15 Days". Bloomberg.com.
  26. ^ Kachi, Hiroyuki (20 July 2007). "Mitsui talking to Russian railway operator on trans-Siberian freight service". MarketWatch.com.
  27. ^ "Trans-Siberian in seven days". Railway Gazette International. 5 May 2009.
  28. ^ "Beijing to Hamburg fast cargo rail link planned". The China Post. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  29. ^ "Chapter 4: Freight Rates" (PDF). Review of Maritime Transport. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: 89. 2010. ISSN 0566-7682. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  30. ^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 020, Moscow-Beijing". Archived from the original on December 3, 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Further reading

  • 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.
  • Dawson Jr., John W. (2002). "Max Dehn, Kurt Gödel, and the Trans-Siberian escape route". Notices of the AMS (49.9).
  • Marks, S.G. (1991). Road to Power: The Trans-Siberian Railroad and the Colonization of Asian Russia, 1850–1917. ISBN 0-8014-2533-6.
  • Faulstich, Edith M. (1972–1977). The Siberian Sojourn. Yonkers, NY.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • 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.
  • North, Robert N. (1979). Transport in western Siberia: Tsarist and Soviet development. University of British Columbia Press.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Westwood, John Norton (1964). A history of Russian railways. G. Allen and Unwin.
  • Калиничев, В.П. (1991). Великий Сиберский 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 962-217-811-1.
  • Walker, Robert. The Trans-Siberian Railway Encyclopedia. https://trans-siberian-railway-encyclopedia.com/. {{cite book}}: External link in |location= (help)
  • Wolmar, Christian (2013). To the Edge of the World. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 9780857890375.
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