The military use of railways derives from their ability to move troops or

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...

rapidly and, less usually, on their use as a platform for military systems, like very large railroad guns and

armoured train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facili ...

s, in their own right. Railways have been employed for military purposes in wartime since the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

. Improvements in other forms of transport have rendered railways less important to the military since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the Cold War, although they are still employed for the transport of armoured vehicles to and from exercises or the mass transport of vehicles to a theatre of operations. The US Air Force developed the Peacekeeper Rail Garrison mobile ICBM in the 1980s, but it never reached operational status. Due to the expense and time required to build specifically military railway networks, military use of railways is usually based on a pre-existing civilian railway network rather than a military-owned one. However, specialized military types of

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

have frequently been used. Military railway is usually built and operated by

railway troops Railway troops are soldiers who are also railway engineers. They build, repair, operate or destroy militarily relevant railway lines and their associated infrastructure. History The establishment of railway troops by the great powers followed th ...

. Sometimes so called

strategic railway A strategic railway is a railway proposed or constructed primarily for military strategic purposes, as opposed to the usual purpose of a railway, which is the transport of civilian passengers or freight. Although the archetypal strategic railwa ...

s are built where civilian considerations would not justify a line or not one built to those standards.

Military railways

British military narrow gauge railways These are narrow-gauge railways at military establishments and former UK Government-owned explosives sites. These locations were often subject to the Official Secrets Act and other government restrictions, so many of them are less well documen ...

* Melbourne Military Railway *

Bicester Military Railway The Bicester Military Railway (BMR) is a railway in Oxfordshire, England belonging to the Ministry of Defence. It links military depots at Piddington, Arncott and Graven Hill with the Oxford to Bicester Line. History The Bicester Military R ...

Fort Eustis Military Railroad The Fort Eustis Military Railroad is an intra-plant United States Army rail transportation system existing entirely within the post boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis (USATCFE), Fort Eustis, Virginia. It ...

Railways in war

Treno con militari e civili alla stazione

Early Prussian use

The

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

's VI Corps, some 12,000 men and their guns, horses, ammunition and other material, was transported on two railway lines to

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

in 1846. The Prussian Army used railways to move its forces during the

First Schleswig War The First Schleswig War (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg) was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswi ...

in 1849–1851. Three Prussian battalions were deployed by rail to crush the 1849

May Uprising in Dresden The May Uprising took place in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony in 1849; it was one of the last of the series of events known as the Revolutions of 1848. Events leading to the May Uprising In the German states, revolutions began in March 1848, start ...

. The first Prussian regulations for transport of troops on state railways were issued in 1856.

Hungarian Revolution of 1848

In 1849, an Imperial Russian corps with all of its equipment, was moved by rail from Poland to Göding in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

to link up with the Austrian army during the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although t ...

Crimean War

Military railways were used to establish a reliable supply to

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

troops besieging the city of Sevastopol from

Balaklava Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...

during the severe winter of 1855 in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. The

Grand Crimean Central Railway The Grand Crimean Central Railway was a military railway built in 1855 during the Crimean War by Great Britain. Its purpose was to supply ammunition and provisions to Allied soldiers engaged in the Siege of Sevastopol who were stationed on a pl ...

was just long, and was purpose built.

Second Italian War of Independence

During the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

in 1859, the French Army moved 130,000 soldiers to northern Italy by rail. The Imperial Guard Corps from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and two corps from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

were sent to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

via rail, from where a total of 70,000 men were shipped to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. The French I Corps was then ferried from Genoa to Novi by rail. Another two French corps were transported by rail to Savoy, where they crossed the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

and boarded trains to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. To improve Piedmont's railway system, the French Navy shipped locomotives to Genoa. A French siege train was shipped from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

and Toulon to Genoa, from where it was moved by rail to Lombardy for use against

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

in late June.

American Civil War

The

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

in 1861–1865 was the first large war in which railroads were both a major tool and a major target of military action. A few railroads were custom built: *

United States Military Railroad The U.S. Military Railroad (USMRR) was established by the United States War Department as a separate agency to operate any rail lines seized by the government during the American Civil War. An Act of Congress of 31 January 1862 authorized Presi ...

rebuilt the

City Point Railroad In 1836, the Virginia House of Delegates approved a charter for the City Point Railroad. City Point, Virginia, was just ten years old. The Lower Appomattox Company ran boats of cargo from Petersburg, Virginia, to the large port at City Point. The c ...

, extending to Petersburg during the

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

Confederate railroads in the American Civil War The American Civil War was the first in which large armies depended heavily on railroads to bring supplies. For the Confederate States Army, the system was fragile and was designed for short hauls of cotton to the nearest river or ocean port. Dur ...

* Centreville Military Railroad

Paraguayan War

In 1867 during the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...

some ironclad vessels of the Brazilian navy became trapped on the

River Paraguay The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters i ...

between the enemy Paraguayan forts of Curupaty and

Humaitá Humaitá is a town and ''distrito'' on the Paraguay River in southern Paraguay. During the Paraguayan War, it served as the main Paraguayan stronghold from 1866 until its fall in August 1868. During that time, it housed as many as 24,000 troops. ...

. To keep them supplied with fuel, ammunition and provisions the Brazilian ministry of marine ordered an emergency military railway to be built through the almost impenetrable coastal region of the Chaco. The sleepers of this line almost floated over the boggy ground. This supply line was known as the ''Affonso Celso'', and sustained the ironclads in their precarious position for six months, until they were able to dash past the

Fortress of Humaitá The Fortress of Humaitá (1854–68), known metaphorically as the Gibraltar of South America, was a Paraguayan military installation near the mouth of the River Paraguay. A strategic site without equal in the region, "a fortress the likes o ...

in an incident known as the

Passage of Humaitá The Passage of Humaitá ( Portuguese: ''Passagem de Humaitá'') was an operation of riverine warfare during the Paraguayan War − the most lethal in South American history − in which a force of six Imperial Brazilian Navy armoured vessels w ...

Russian use in Asia

The

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

(Транссибирская железнодорожная магистраль - Транссиб), before 1917 was called the Great

Siberian Route The Siberian Route (russian: Сибирский тракт; ''Sibirsky trakt''), also known as the Moscow Highway (, Московский тракт) and Great Highway (, Большой тракт), was a historic route that connected European Rus ...

(Великий Сибирский Путь). First construction begun on 19 May (31 May) 1891. It was used in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

and

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

Mahdist War

In 1896-98 during the Mahdist War, Kitchener built the Sudan Military Railroad extending the Egyptian railways into the Sudan.

World War I

The early phase of World War I was influenced to a large degree by the speed of

military mobilization Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and t ...

via railways. The German

Schlieffen Plan The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on ...

relied on an extensive network of

s to allow crushing France before Russia could mobilize. However, ultimately this failed as Russia mobilized more quickly than Germany had anticipated, and Germany's offensive on the Western front ground down to stalemate and

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became ar ...

. The resulting unprecedented heavy use of artillery required transport on an unprecedented scale, and narrow gauge military

trench railways Trench railways represented military adaptation of early 20th-century railway technology to the problem of keeping soldiers supplied during the static trench warfare phase of World War I. The large concentrations of soldiers and artillery at the f ...

were quickly built to service the Western Front for both sides.

World War II

German military transport was mostly dependent on trains and

horses in World War II Horses in World War II were used by the belligerent nations for transportation of troops, artillery, materiel, and, to a lesser extent, in mobile cavalry troops. The role of horses for each nation depended on its military strategy and state of eco ...

. Railway sabotage during World War II was among the difficulties. Leaders also used military trains, for example

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's '' Amerika'' and

Hermann Goering Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, Miss ...

's ''Asien''. Trains were protected by railcars armed with anti aircraft guns or ''flak waggon''. Member of 2nd Railway Construction Company Royal Australian Engineers

Member of 2nd Railway Construction Company Royal Australian Engineers

German bombing of Polish railways contributed greatly to the swift success of the 1939

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

. Japan built several railways for military purposes, notably the Burma-Siam Railway, known as the

Death Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...

because of the number of Allied prisoners-of-war and Asian labourers who died to construct it. The existing Northeast Indian Railways were expanded by the Americans to supply China via the

Ledo Road The Ledo Road (from Ledo, Assam, India to Kunming, Yunnan, China) was an overland connection between India and China, built during World War II to enable the Western Allies to deliver supplies to China and aid the war effort against Japan ...

. Railway lines were also constructed by the Allies in the Suez Canal area.

External links

"They're Highballing Now."
''Popular Science'', February 1945, pp. 77–83, article on the landing of thousands of rolling stock across D-Day beaches During World War II and rebuilding of French railways.