Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway
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Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
railway (1855–1923 – ''Nikolaevskaya railway'') runs for through four
oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...
s:
Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
,
Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...
,
Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...
and
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. It is a major traffic artery in the north-west region of Russia, operated by the
October Railway Oktyabrskaya Railway or October Railway () is the subsidiary of RZD, servicing railway lines in the north-west of Russia. It stretches from Moscow's Leningrad Terminal in the south to Murmansk beyond the Arctic Circle in the north. The total leng ...
subdivision of
Russian Railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...
.


History


Context

On 1 February 1842, Tsar Nicholas I issued a
ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz ( ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leadership (e.g., Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' or the Most Holy Synod) that had the force of law. " Edict" and " decree" are adequate trans ...
ordering the railway's construction. The railway was a pet project of Pavel Melnikov (1804–1880), an engineer and administrator who supervised its construction and whose statue may be seen near the southern
terminus Terminus may refer to: Ancient Rome *Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport *Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination *Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...
, the Leningradsky railway station in Moscow. The idea of a railway connecting the two capitals gave rise to a prolonged controversy, with some reactionary officials predicting social upheaval if the masses were allowed to travel. It was decided that only the affluent would be allowed to use the line; every passenger was to be subjected to strict passport and police control. Although the
Tsarskoye Selo Railway The Tsarskoye Selo Railway () was the first public railway line in the Russian Empire.Pushkin
Encyclo ...
, built by German engineer Franz Anton von Gerstner in 1837, was Russia's first public railway line, the cost overruns led Tsar Nicholas I and his advisors to doubt Gerstner's ability to execute the planned St. Petersburg–Moscow line.Gasparini, D. A., K. Nizamiev, and C. Tardini. "GW Whistler and the Howe Bridges on the Nikolaev Railway, 1842–1851", American Society of Civil Engineers, ''Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities'' 30.3 (2015): DOI link:04015046.https://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000791 So Melnikov and another colleague traveled to the United States in 1839 to study railroad technology, where they met
George Washington Whistler George Washington Whistler (May 19, 1800 – April 7, 1849) was an American civil engineer best known for building steam locomotives and railroads. He is credited with introducing the steam whistle to American locomotives. In 1842, Tsar Nichola ...
, who designed the
Canton Viaduct Canton Viaduct is a blind arcade cavity wall in Canton, Massachusetts, built in 1834–35 for the Boston and Providence Railroad. At its completion, it was the longest () and tallest () railroad viaduct in the world; today, it is the last surv ...
for the
Boston and Providence Railroad The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the Rail transportation in the United States, fir ...
. Upon Melnikov's recommendation, Tsar Nicholas I invited Whistler to help build the railway. Whistler left for Russia in June 1842, accompanied by imperial engineer Major Ivan F. Bouttatz, who would become Whistler's friend. He received the
Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in hono ...
by the Russian Emperor in 1847 but contracted
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
and died on 7 April 1849, in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Russia, two years before the line was completed. It was built by
serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...
with heavy loss of life, a fact bemoaned by
Nikolay Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Некра́сов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈkrasəf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Alexeyevich_Nekrasov.ogg, – ) was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publ ...
in his 1864 poem ''
The Railway ''The Railway'', widely known as ''Gare Saint-Lazare'', is an 1873 painting by Édouard Manet. It is the last painting by Manet of his favourite model, the fellow painter Victorine Meurent, who was also the model for '' Olympia'' and the '' Lu ...
''. After ten years of construction, the line opened on 1 November 1851. The first passenger train left Saint Petersburg at 11:15 and arrived in Moscow at 21:00 the next day. When completed, the line was the longest double-track railway in the world.


The ruler legend

Tsar Nicholas I figures in an
urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...
about the railroad. When it was planned in 1842, he supposedly demanded the shortest path be used despite major obstacles in the way. The story says he tried to use a ruler to draw the railroad in a perfectly straight line. By the
Msta River The Msta () is a river in Tver and Novgorod Oblasts of northwestern Russia, a tributary of Lake Ilmen. It is long, and the area of its basin . The principal tributaries of the Msta are the Berezayka (left), the Uver (right), the Peretna (lef ...
the tsar's pencil hit an awkwardly placed finger which he was using to hold down the ruler, creating a bend in the line. The legend says that the engineers wanted to execute the tsar's order exactly, and the result was a perfectly straight track apart from a single bend. The false story became popular in Russia and Britain as an explanation of how poorly the country was governed. By the 1870s, Russians were telling a different version, claiming the tsar was wise to overcome local interests that wanted the railway diverted this way and that. A similar story is told about the Ulm-Friedrichshafen railway that includes a remarkably straight stretch bypassing many settlements - as the story goes due to endless debates between local advocates about what village to serve, which were ended when the
King of Württemberg King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...
took out a ruler and drew a straight line saying "this is how I want my railway built". What actually happened was that the road was laid out by engineers and he endorsed their advice to build in a straight line. The curve, also called the Verebinsky bypass, was actually built in 1877, 26 years after the line came into being, to circumvent a steep gradient that lasted for . Heading for St Petersburg, trains would pick up so much speed that they steamed straight past the next station, while those heading for Moscow needed four locomotives to get up the hill. In 2001, the bypass was closed as a new viaduct had been opened. In 2001, Russia's first
high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...
line was planned to be constructed along the same route, but the project was eventually shelved amid ecological protests and concerns about the fragile environment of the
Valdai Hills The Valdai Hills, sometimes shortened to Valdai, are an upland region in the north-west of central European Russia running north–south, about midway between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, spanning Leningrad, Novgorod, Tver, Pskov, and Smolensk ...
. In 2019, the start of a new design phase was given approval. Construction on the
Moscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed railway The Moscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed railway (), also known as VSM-1 () is a high-speed rail line under construction in Russia. History In 2020, Russian Railways reported construction was scheduled to begin in 2021. The estimated travel t ...
began in March 2024.


Operations

The maximum speed is , however this speed is allowed only on less than of the line. A maximum speed of is permitted for of the line. The rest of the route allows a maximum speed of . The fastest train takes 3 hours and 30 minutes (which gives an average speed of ). The
Siemens Velaro Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed electric multiple unit trains built by Siemens. It is based on the ICE 3 high-speed trains initially co-manufactured by Siemens and Bombardier Transportation, Bombardier for German national rail operator ...
RUS train, also known as
Sapsan The ''Sapsan'' ( ), also known as Velaro RUS EVS, is a Russian gauge high speed electric express train. The train is a Siemens Velaro model, which in turn is based on the ICE 3M/F high-speed trains manufactured by Siemens Mobility for Russi ...
, has operated on this line since 2009, running below their maximum speed of because of difficulties upgrading all the track. Russian Railways spent nearly $1 billion on eight trains. In 2019, a third order of €1.1 billion for 13 more trains of the same model was signed. Since 1931 the famous ''
Krasnaya Strela The ''Red Arrow'' () is a Russian overnight sleeper train connecting Moscow and Saint Petersburg via the Moscow–Saint Petersburg Railway. History The ''Red Arrow'' runs from Leningradsky Rail Terminal, Leningrad Station in Moscow to Moskovsk ...
'' (''"Red Arrow"'') train has left Moscow at 23:55 daily, arriving in St Petersburg at 07:55 the next morning, and vice versa. The railway is relatively congested, which means that only a few high speed trains can run each day. There are proposals to build a parallel high-speed railway allowing speeds up to , at an estimated cost of 696 bn roubles with an original estimated completion of 2018.


Major stations

Major stations include (south to north) Kryukovo (Zelenograd),
Klin KLIN (1400 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. It is licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, and is owned by NRG Media. The studios are in Broadcast House at 44th Street and East O Street ( U.S. Route 34). KLIN i ...
,
Redkino Redkino ( or ) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Republic of Bashkortostan As of 2022, one rural locality in the Republic of Bashkortostan bears this name: * Redkino, Republic of Bashkortostan, a village in Kuyanovsky Selsovie ...
,
Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...
,
Likhoslavl Likhoslavl () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Likhoslavlsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway, Moscow–St. Petersburg Railway, northwest ...
, Kalashnikovo,
Vyshny Volochyok Vyshny Volochyok ( rus, Вы́шний Волочёк, p=ˈvɨʂnʲɪj vəlɐˈtɕɵk) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: Geography and etymology The town is located northwest of Tver, in the Valdai Hills, between the Tvertsa and ...
,
Bologoye Bologoye () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Bologoye, Tver Oblast, a town in Bologovsky District of Tver Oblast ;Rural localities * Bologoye, Omsk Oblast, a '' selo'' in Rozovsky Rural Okrug of Russko-P ...
, Okulovka, Luka, Malaya Vishera,
Chudovo Chudovo () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Chudovo, Chudovsky District, Novgorod Oblast, a town of district significance in Chudovsky District of Novgorod Oblast ;Rural localities * Chudovo, Semyonov, N ...
, Lyuban,
Tosno Tosno () is a town and the administrative center of Tosnensky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Tosna River, southeast of the center of St. Petersburg. Population: History The village of Tosno was first mentioned in Rus ...
and Obukhovo.


Timetable

There are 32 direct express trains daily from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, from which the following are a selection. There are many more sleeper trains. International trains to nearby countries such as Finland and
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
use this line. The line runs only an absolutely unavoidable minimum of freight trains. However, with only one track in each direction (with the exception Moscow to Zelenograd, which has three tracks), expresses are often delayed by slower local commuter trains. Introduction of Sapsan service saw massive changes in suburban train timetables with some trains now having long stops at passing loops to allow overtaking and others cancelled, causing resentment in towns and settlements along the line. A fourth track between Moscow and Zelenograd is under construction, and there are plans to extend the third track beyond Zelenograd to Tver.


Incidents

On 16 August 1988, 31 people were killed when the Avrora derailed while traveling at high speed on a stretch of defective track near
Bologoye Bologoye () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Bologoye, Tver Oblast, a town in Bologovsky District of Tver Oblast ;Rural localities * Bologoye, Omsk Oblast, a '' selo'' in Rozovsky Rural Okrug of Russko-P ...
.


2007 explosion

On 13 August 2007 an intercity passenger train to St Petersburg from Moscow derailed shortly before reaching Malaya Vishera after a bomb explosion. There were 30 injuries and no deaths, and railway traffic was blocked in both directions for a few days. Two men from the
Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country o ...
region of
North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...
, Salambek Dzakhkiyev and Maksharip Khidriyev, were charged in relation to this incident. They were acquitted in January 2010 on the terrorism charge, but sentenced to prison terms on related charges. The court decided they delivered the explosives to the person who actually planted them, the leader of the terrorist cell, Pavel Kosolapov, at large at time of the trial, but were not aware how it was going to get used. Dzakhkiyev and his defense lawyer, Magomed Razakov, were also convicted of trying to bribe the investigator. Dzakhkiyev was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, Khidriyev four years, Razakov two years two months. The acquittal was upheld by the Supreme Court in March 2010.


2009 explosion

On 27 November 2009 four cars from train No. 166 derailed while travelling between Moscow and St. Petersburg."Train derails between Moscow and St Petersburg"
BBC.
The derailment was a
terrorist act Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
caused by the detonation of of
TNT equivalent TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. A ton of TNT equivalent is a unit of energy defined by convention to be (). It is the approximate energy released in the de ...
. At least 27 people were killed and 96 injured. In a secondary explosion on 28 November, directed at investigators,
Alexander Bastrykin Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin (, born August 27, 1953) is a Russian lawyer and official who has served as the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia since 15 January 2011. He served as the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia a ...
, head of the Investigative Committee, was injured and hospitalised. The incident was reported to have similarities with the 2007 explosion.


See also

*
Moscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed railway The Moscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed railway (), also known as VSM-1 () is a high-speed rail line under construction in Russia. History In 2020, Russian Railways reported construction was scheduled to begin in 2021. The estimated travel t ...
*
Rail transport in Russia Rail transport in Russia runs on one of the biggest railway networks in the world. Russian railways are the third longest by length and third by volume of freight hauled, after the railways of the United States and China. In overall density o ...
*
Russian Railways Russian Railways or RZD () is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger train services and has a near-monopoly on long-distance train travel in Russia. ...
*
Transportation in Moscow Transport in Moscow includes buses, trams, subway system, motorways, trains, helicopters and planes to provide connectivity between Moscow's districts and beyond. Air There are four primary commercial airports serving Moscow: Sheremetyevo Int ...
*
Emperor railway station, Pushkin town The Emperor's railway station or Emperor's Tsarskoye Selo Station, known as the Emperor's Pavilion (, transliteration ''Imperatorsky pavilyon''), is a former railway station terminal in Russia, in the town Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin, Saint Pete ...


References


External links


"Views of the Nikolaev Railway", circa 1858
courtesy of SMU library archives.
View the items in high resolution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moscow - Saint Petersburg Railway 1851 establishments in the Russian Empire Railway lines opened in 1851 Oktyabrskaya Railway Rail transport in Moscow Rail transport in Moscow Oblast Rail transport in Tver Oblast Rail transport in Leningrad Oblast Rail transport in Saint Petersburg High-speed railway lines in Russia Nicholas I of Russia