Trans-Siberian Railway

Trans-Siberian Railway
Bridge over the Kama River, near Perm in 1912 Trans-Siberian line in red; Baikal–Amur Mainline in green Line length 9,289 km (5,772 mi) Track gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) Russian gauge
0 km 0 mi Yaroslavsky Terminal, Moscow 59 km 37 mi Khotkovo 73 km 45 mi Sergiyev Posad Moscow Oblast Vladimir Oblast 112 km 70 mi Alexandrov Balakirevo Vladimir Oblast Yaroslavl Oblast 145 km 90 mi Berendeevo Ryazantsevo Silnitsi 200 km 124 mi Petrovskoye 224 km 139 mi Rostov Yaroslavski Semibratovo Kozmodemyansk 284 km 176 mi Yaroslavl 289 km 180 mi Volga River 356 km 221 mi Danilov to Vologda and Arkhangelsk Sot 394 km 245 mi Lyubim Seksha Yaroslavl Oblast Kostroma Oblast Brodni Korega 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 Vetluga River 698 km 434 mi Sharya Zeblyaki Yakshanga Burunduchikha Kostroma Oblast Kirov Oblast Suprotivniy Metil Gostovskaya Shabalino 818 km 508 mi Svetcha Yuma Kapidantsi Atsvezh Darovitsa to Nizhni Novgorod & Moscow 870 km 541 mi Kotelnich Vyatka River 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 Kosa Falenki 1127 km 700 mi Yar Kirov Oblast Udmurtia Kozmil 1165 km 724 mi Glazov 1194 km 742 mi Balyezino Pibanshur 1221 km 759 mi Cheptsa River 1223 km 760 mi Chepsta Kez Kabalud Kuzma Udmurtia Perm Krai 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 Kama River 1436 km 892 mi Perm 1452 km 902 mi Ferma Mulyanka Yug Yergach 1534 km 953 mi Kungur Kishert Shumkovo Tulumbasi Kordon Perm Krai Sverdlovsk Oblast Shamary 1672 km 1039 mi Shalya Sarga Sabik 1729 km 1074 mi Kuzino 1748 km 1086 mi Krylosovo 1770 km 1100 mi Pervouralsk 1777 km 1104 mi Europe Asia Iset River 1816 km 1128 mi Yekaterinburg Shartash Putevka Kosolino Gagarskiy Bazhenovo Gryaznovskaya 1912 km 1188 mi Bogdanovich Pishminskaya Yelansky 1955 km 1215 mi Kamyshlov Aksarikha Oshchepkovo Proselok 2033 km 1263 mi Talitsa 2064 km 1283 mi Yushala Bahkmetskoye Tugulym Karmak Sverdlovsk Oblast Tyumen Oblast 2144 km 1332 mi Tyumen Voynovka Ozero Andreyevskoya Vinzili Bogdaninskaya 2222 km 1381 mi Yalutorovsk Tobol River Zavodoukovsk Novaya Zaimka Vagay Omutinskaya Lamyenskaya Golishmanovo Karasulskaya 2431 km 1511 mi Ishim Ishim River Maslyanskaya Novo Andreyevskiy Tyumen Oblast Omsk Oblast Mangut 2565 km 1594 mi Nazyvayevsk Dragunskaya Lyubinskaya 2706 km 1681 mi Irtysh River 2712 km 1685 mi Omsk Kormilovka 2760 km 1715 mi Kalachinsk Ivanovka Omsk Oblast Novosibirsk Oblast 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 Ob River 3335 km 2072 mi Novosibirsk Mochische Oyash Chebula 3463 km 2152 mi Bolotnaya Novosibirsk Oblast Kemerovo Oblast 3491 km 2169 mi Yurga Tom River Talmenka Yashkino Kholkino branch to Tomsk 3570 km 2218 mi Tayga Likhtach 3602 km 2238 mi Anzhero-Sudzhensk Yaya Izhmorsk Berikulsk Antibesskiy 3715 km 2308 mi Mariinsk Suslovo Tyazhin Itat Kemerovo Oblast Krasnoyarsk Krai 3849 km 2392 mi Bogotol Kritovo Chulym River 3917 km 2434 mi Achinsk 3960 km 2461 mi Chernorechsk Kozulka Zeledeyevo Kacha Minino 4098 km 2546 mi Krasnoyarsk 4101 km 2548 mi Yenisei River Zlobino Zikovo Sorokino Kamarchaga Balay 4227 km 2627 mi Uyar 4262 km 2648 mi Zaozyornaya Kamala Solyanka Boshnyakovo 4343 km 2699 mi Kansk-Yeniseiski 4375 km 2718 mi Ilanskaya Ingashiskaya Tinskaya Reshoti Klyuchi Krasnoyarsk Krai Irkutsk Oblast Yurti Biryusinsk 4516 km 2806 mi Tayshet 4520 km 2809 mi Baikal Amur Mainline 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 Irkutsk Oblast Ust-Ordynsky Golovinskaya 5027 km 3124 mi Kutulik Zabituy Ust-Ordynsky Irkutsk Oblast 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 Irkutsk Oblast Buryatia 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 Selenge River 5642 km 3506 mi Ulan-Ude 5655 km 3514 mi Trans-Mongolian Railway Talitsi 5675 km 3526 mi Onokhoy Zaigraevo Chelutay Ilka 5734 km 3563 mi Novoilinski Kizma Buryatia Zabaykalsky Krai 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 River 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 Chinese Eastern Railway 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 Zabaykalsky Krai ⁄ Amur Oblast 7119 km 4424 mi Yerofei Pavlovich 7211 km 4481 mi Urusha 7266 km 4515 mi Takhtamigda 7273 km 4519 mi Amur–Yakutsk Mainline 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 Zeya River M. Chesnokovskaya Serishevo 7873 km 4892 mi Belogorsk 7875 km 4893 mi to Blagoveshchensk Vozhayevka Pozdeyevka Yekaterinoslavka 7992 km 4966 mi Zavitaya 8037 km 4994 mi Bureya Domikan 8088 km 5026 mi Arkhara Rachi Kundur-Khabarovskiy Amur Jewish Autonomous Oblast 8198 km 5094 mi Obluchye Kimkan 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 Amur River – J.A. Oblast ⁄ Khabarovsk Krai 8523 km 5296 mi Khabarovsk Korfovskaya 8598 km 5343 mi Verino 8621 km 5357 mi Khor Dormidontovka 8642 km 5370 mi Vyazemskaya Rozengartovka 8756 km 5441 mi Bikin Khabarovsk Krai Primorsky Krai 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 Varanovskiy to Khasan and Rajin Nadezdinskaya to Nakhodka 9255 km 5751 mi Uglovaya 9289 km 5772 mi Vladivostok

The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR, Russian: Транссиби́рская магистра́ль, tr. 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), 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] Russia has expressed its desire for Pakistan to participate in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, by linking the Trans-Siberian Railway with Gwadar Port.^[3]

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),^[4] it spans a record eight time zones.^[5] 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)^[6] and the Kiev–Vladivostok 11,085 kilometres (6,888 mi)^[7] 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.

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 Moscow-Saint Petersburg Railway in 1851.^[8] 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.^[9] 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:

• Southern route: via Kazakhstan, Barnaul, Abakan and Mongolia.
• Northern route: via Tyumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Yeniseysk and the modern Baikal Amur Mainline or even through Yakutsk.

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.^[10] 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.

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.

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.

On 9 March 1891, the Russian government issued an imperial rescript in which it announced its intention to construct a railway across Siberia.^[11] Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II) inaugurated the construction of the railway in Vladivostok on 19 May that year.^[12] 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.

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.

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.^[13][14]

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.^[14] Their boilers, engines and some other components were built in Saint Petersburg^[14] 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.^[13][14]

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^[13][14] but Angara survives. It has been restored and is permanently moored at Irkutsk where it serves as an office and a museum.^[13]

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.^[15]

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.

Effects

As Siberian agriculture began, from around 1869, to send cheap grain westwards, agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of serfdom, which was formally abolished in 1861. Thus, to defend the central territory and to prevent possible social destabilisation, in 1896 the Tsarist government introduced the Chelyabinsk tariff-break (Челябинский тарифный перелом), 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.

From 1896 until 1913 Siberia exported on average 501,932 tonnes (30,643,000 pood) of bread (grain, flour) annually.^[16]

The Trans-Siberian Railway brought with it millions of peasant-migrants from the Western regions of Russia and Ukraine.^[17] Between 1906 and 1914, the peak migration years, about 4 million peasants arrived in Siberia.^[18]

The railway immediately filled to capacity with local traffic, mostly wheat. 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. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, military traffic to the east disrupted the flow of civil freight.

War and revolution

In the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the strategic importance of the Trans-Siberian Railway was seen, though its shortcomings contributed to Russia's defeat in the war. The track was a single track and as such could only allow train travel in one direction. This caused significant strategic and supply difficulties for the Russians, as they could not move resources to and from the front as quickly as would be necessary, as a goods train carrying supplies, men and ammunition coming from west to east would have to wait in the sidings, whilst troops and injured personnel in a troop train travelling from east to west went along the line. Thus the Japanese were quickly able to advance whilst the Russians were awaiting necessary troops and supplies.

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.^[19]

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.^[20] 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

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 was secretly allied 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).

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, 5800 tonnes of this essential material were transiting on the Soviet railway network between the borders of Manchukuo and the Third Reich, 2000 tonnes were transiting Manchukuo, 4000 tonnes were sitting in Dairen, 3800 tonnes were in Japan, and 5700 tonnes, on the way from South-East Asia to Japan.^[21]

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.^[22] 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.

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.^[23] 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Gallery

• 
  Start of Trans-Siberian railway in Moscow.
• 
  Bashkir switchman near the town Ust' Katav on the Yuryuzan River between Ufa and Cheliabinsk in the Ural Mountains region, c. 1910
• 
  View from the rear platform of the Simskaia railway station of the Samara–Zlatoust Railway, c. 1910
• 
  Snow in late-April at Nazyvayevsk station, Siberia.
• 
  The train ferry SS Baikal in service on Lake Baikal
• 
  Train entering a Circum-Baikal tunnel west of Kultuk
• 
  Vladivostok terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway

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.^[4]

Location	Distance	Travel Time	Time Zone	Notes
Moscow, Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal	0 km (0 mi)		Moscow Time
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
Official boundary between Europe and Asia	1,777 km (1,104 mi)			marked by a white obelisk
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+5:30	North Korean side of the border
Pyongyang	10,267 km (6,380 mi)	9 days 2 hours	MT+5:30

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

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).

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

• Harbin (7,573 km (4,706 mi) from Moscow)
• Mudanjiang (7,928 km)
• Suifenhe (8,121 km), the Chinese border station
• Grodekovo (8,147 km), Russia
• Ussuriysk (8,244 km)
• Vladivostok (8,356 km)

Trans-Mongolian line

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.

Cultural importance

• In 1910 Lina Bögli embarked with the Trans-Siberian Railway on a trip via Vladivostok to Japan and China, and in 1915 she published Always forward about this trip.^[31]
• The Trans-Siberian Railway is the theme for the Trans-Siberian Railway Panorama and 1900 Trans-Siberian Railway Fabergé egg.
• In the anime Blood+, the main character Saya Otonashi has a fight with chiropteans in her travel by the Trans-Siberian express heading for Ekaterinburg.
• In the videogame Syberia the protagonist travels by train through Russia/Siberia – a clear reference to the Trans-Siberian Railway.
• The Corto Maltese comic Corte sconta detta arcana/Corto Maltese en Sibérie has the Trans-Siberian Railway as part of the story that takes place in the Russian Revolutionary period of the 20th century.
• The cult film Horror Express starring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Telly Savalas is set aboard the railway.
• In the play Fiddler on the Roof and the film version, Tevye's daughter, Hodel, takes the Trans-Siberian Railway to Siberia after her fiancé is exiled there.
• The 2008 thriller Transsiberian takes place on the railway.
• An Idiot Abroad (2012) features Karl Pilkington travelling the length of the railway.

See also

• Baikal–Amur Mainline
• Famous trains
• History of Siberia
• Russian gauge
  • Broad gauge
• Russian Railways
• Sibirjak
• Starlight Express, a train musical in which a character is modeled on the Trans-Siberian Express.
• Trans-Siberian Railway Panorama

References

Further reading

• Ames, Edward (1947). "A century of Russian railroad construction: 1837–1936". American Slavic and East European Review. 6 (3/4): 57–74. JSTOR 2491700. doi:10.2307/2491700. 
• 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. 
• 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. JSTOR 130442. doi:10.2307/130442. 
• 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/. 
• Wolmar, Christian (2013). To the Edge of the World. London: Atlantic Books. ISBN 9780857890375. 

External links

Media related to Trans-Siberian railway at Wikimedia Commons

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Trans-Siberian Railway.

• Trans-Siberian Railway, national geographic expeditions
• Trans-Siberian Railway: a view from Moscow to Vladivostok – a photo essay (27 December 2016), The Guardian (UK). Photographs of "life onboard the Trans-Siberian Railway, and beyond the carriage window."
• Russian Railways official website
• Overview of passenger travel today
• "A 1903 map of Trans-Siberian railway". 
• Guide to the Great Siberian Railway (1900)
• Mikhailoff, M. (May 1900). ""The Great Siberian Railway"". the North American Review. 170 (522). 
• Manley, Deborah, ed. (January 2009). The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Traveller's Anthology. ISBN 1-904955-49-5. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. 
• Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936), "The Trans-Siberian Express", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 451–57  illustrated description of the route and the train