The Severnaya Railway (Северная железная дорога; "Northern Railway") is a railway network linking Moscow with

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...

on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. It runs through

, Komi,

Vologda Vologda ( rus, Вологда, p=ˈvoləɡdə) is a city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as a major transport hu ...

, Kostroma,

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluenc ...

Ivanovo Ivanovo ( rus, Иваново, p=ɪˈvanəvə) is a city in Russia. It is the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vladimir and Kostroma. Ivanovo has a popu ...

, and Vladimir regions of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Northern Railway counts its age from 15 September 1868 when its first part, Shuya-Ivanovo Railway connecting

, Shuya and Novki, was opened. The Yaroslavl Railway, owned by Savva Mamontov, was one of the first railways in Russia. The Alexandrov–

–

line was opened in 1872. There are several monuments to Savva Mamontov along the road. The original Moscow–Yaroslavl Mainline is no longer operated from Yaroslavl; it was transferred to the

Moscow Railway Moscow Railway (russian: Московская железная дорога) is a subsidiary of Russian Railways that handles half of Russia's suburban railway operations and a quarter of the country's passenger traffic. As of 2009 the railway, w ...

in 1959.

Yaroslavl-Vologda-Arkhangelsk line

In 1894, the construction of the railway connecting Vologda with Arkhangelsk started. The decision was taken to construct the line along the shortest route, which at the time ran through a sparsely populated area, and not along one of the existing trading routes, via Kargopol or

Verkhovazhye Verkhovazhye (russian: Верхова́жье) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Verkhovazhsky District of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Vaga River. It also serves as the administrative c ...

. The construction was completed in 1897. Line Yaroslavl - Vologda - Arkhangelsk was built with 1067mm gauge. Terminal station in Yaroslavl was located on opposite bank of Volga River. Yaroslavl-railways-1900s

In 1913, a railway bridge in Yaroslavl was built, line Yaroslavl - Vologda regauged to 1524 mm. Vologda - Arkhangelsk line regauged to 1524mm in 1914–1918. The

Cherepovets Cherepovets ( rus, Череповец, p=tɕɪrʲɪpɐˈvʲɛts) is a city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the west of the oblast on the banks of the Sheksna River (a tributary of the Volga River) and on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir. ...

–Vologda– Vyatka(Kirov) line has been in operation since 1906. It is a link joining the Northern Railway to the Perm Railway further to the east. They form the original, or northern, route of the great

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 ...

. A long railway to the mining town of

Vorkuta Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin ...

, known as the Pechora Mainline, was constructed by

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

labor between 1937 and 1941. Its headquarters were in Kotlas.

Yaroslavl-Kostroma line

The Yaroslavl - Kostroma line opened in 1887. The first Kostroma terminal located in far bank of the Volga. Kostroma-railways-2010s

In 1932 the line was re-routed over a new bridge closer to the city. In 1956 this line was extended northbound from Kostroma to Galich, and created a spare line for Transsib route. Nowadays the Northern Railway is a subsidiary of the

Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...

. Its total length is 5956 km. The headquarters are on the Volga Embankment in Yaroslavl. Its branches are based in Yaroslavl, Vologda, Arkhangelsk,

Solvychegodsk Solvychegodsk (russian: Сольвычего́дск, lit. "salt on the Vychegda River") is a town in Kotlassky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right-hand bank of the Vychegda River northeast of Kotlas, the adminis ...

, and

Sosnogorsk Sosnogorsk (russian: Сосного́рск; kv, Сӧснагорт, ''Sösnagort'') is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the Izhma River. Population: History The settlement was first established in 1939 as a railway station. It wa ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Russian Railways Railway lines in Russia Railway lines opened in 1872 Rail transport in Yaroslavl Oblast Rail transport in Vologda Oblast Rail transport in Arkhangelsk Oblast Rail transport in Kostroma Oblast Rail transport in the Komi Republic 1953 establishments in the Soviet Union