Trans–Siberian Railway (Fabergé Egg)
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The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects
European Russia European Russia is the western and most populated part of the Russia, Russian Federation. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the country's sparsely populated and vastly larger eastern part, Siberia, which is situated in Asia ...
to the
Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...
. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of
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 ...
in the west to the city of
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
in the east. During the period of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, government ministers—personally appointed by Alexander III and his son
Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...
—supervised the building of the railway network between 1891 and 1916. Even before its completion, the line attracted travelers who documented their experiences. Since 1916, the Trans-Siberian Railway has directly connected Moscow with Vladivostok. , expansion projects remain underway, with connections being built to Russia's neighbors
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
, and
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
. Additionally, there have been proposals and talks to expand the network to
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Japan, with new bridges or
tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
that would connect the mainland railway via the Russian island of
Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...
and the Japanese island of
Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...
.


Route

The railway is often associated with the main transcontinental Russian line that connects many large and small cities of the European and Asian parts of Russia. At a Moscow–Vladivostok track length of , it spans a record eight
time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...
s. Taking eight days to complete the journey, it was the third-longest single continuous service in the world, after the Moscow–
Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...
service and the former
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
(Kiev)–Vladivostok service , both of which also follow the Trans-Siberian for much of their routes. The main route begins in Moscow at Yaroslavsky Vokzal, runs through
Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) 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 confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...
or
Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...
,
Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...
,
Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
,
Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...
,
Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...
,
Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; , ; , ) is the capital city of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River, Buryatia, Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga River, Selenga. According to the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census, 43 ...
, Chita, and
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...
to
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
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 east of Karymskoye, in
Chita Oblast Chita Oblast ( rus, Чити́нская о́бласть, r=Čitínskaja óblastj, p=tɕɪˈtʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. ...
), about east of
Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
. From Tarskaya the Trans-Manchurian heads southeast, via
Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
Harbin–Manzhouli railway Trans-Siberian Railway Harbin–Manzhouli railway, abbreviated as the Binzhou Railway (), is a double-track electrified trunk railway in Northeast China between Harbin and Manzhouli on the Russian border, where it connects to the Trans-Siberian ...
and
Mudanjiang Mudanjiang (; Manchu language, Manchu: ''Mudan bira''), postal romanization, alternately romanized as Mutankiang, is a prefecture-level city in the southeast part of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. It was called ''Botankou'' un ...
Harbin–Suifenhe railway in China's Northeastern provinces (from where a connection to Beijing is used by one of the Moscow–Beijing trains), joining the main route in
Ussuriysk Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...
just north of
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
. The third primary route is the
Trans-Mongolian Railway The Trans-Mongolian Railway (, ) connects Ulan-Ude on the Trans-Siberian Railway in Buryatia, Russia, with Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia, China, via Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. It was completed in 1956, and runs from northwest to south ...
, which coincides with the Trans-Siberian as far as
Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; , ; , ) is the capital city of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River, Buryatia, Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga River, Selenga. According to the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census, 43 ...
on
Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
's eastern shore. From Ulan-Ude the Trans-Mongolian heads south to
Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...
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 The Baikal–Amur Mainline (, , , ) is a broad-gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the -long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 480 miles) north of and parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway. ...
(BAM), this recent extension departs from the Trans-Siberian line at
Taishet Tayshet ( rus, Тайшет, p=tɐjˈʂɛt, lit. ''cold river'' in the Kott language) is a town and the administrative center of Tayshetsky District in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Irkutsk, the administrative center of the obl ...
several hundred miles west of
Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
and passes the lake at its northernmost extremity. It crosses the
Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...
at
Komsomolsk-na-Amure Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur River in the Russian Far East. It is locat ...
(north of
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...
), and reaches the Tatar Strait at
Sovetskaya Gavan Sovetskaya Gavan () is a town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, and a port on the Strait of Tartary which connects the Sea of Okhotsk in the north with the Sea of Japan in the south. Population: It was previously known as Imperatorskaya Gavan (Им ...
.


History


Demand and design

In the late 19th century, the development of Siberia was hampered by poor transport links within the region and with the rest of the country. Aside from the Great Siberian Route, roads suitable for wheeled transport were rare. For about five months of the year, rivers were the main means of transport. During winter, cargo and passengers traveled by horse-drawn sledges over the
winter road A winter road is a seasonal road only usable during the winter, i.e. it has to be re-built every year. This road typically runs over land and over frozen lakes, rivers, swamps, and sea ice. Segments of a winter road that cross an expanse of flo ...
s, many of which were the same rivers but frozen. The first steamboat on the River Ob, Nikita Myasnikov's ''Osnova'', was launched in 1844. However, early innovation had proven to be difficult, and it was not until 1857 that steamboat shipping had begun major development on the Ob system. Steamboats began operation on the
Yenisei The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal and the Krasnoyarsk Dam b ...
in 1863, and on the Lena and
Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...
in the 1870s. While the comparative flatness of
Western Siberia Western Siberia or West Siberia ( rus, Западная Сибирь, p=ˈzapədnəjə sʲɪˈbʲirʲ; , ) is a region in North Asia. It is part of the wider region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russia, Russian Federation, with a Sout ...
was served by good river systems, the major river systems Ob
Irtysh The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob (river), Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world. The river's source lies in the Altai Mountains, Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern p ...
Tobol The Tobol (, ) is a river in Western Siberia (in Kazakhstan and Russia) and the main (left) tributary of the Irtysh. Its length is , and the area of its drainage basin is . History The Tobol River was one of the four important rivers of the S ...
Chulym of
Eastern Siberia Eastern Siberia is a part of Siberia that incorporates the territory located between the Yenisei River in the west and the Pacific Ocean divides in the east. Its area is equal to 7.2 million sq. km.Galina Samoylova (Г. С. Самойлова)В ...
had difficulties. The Yenisei, the upper course of the
Angara River The Angara (; ) or Angar ( мүрэн) is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is the headwater tributary of the Yenisey. It is long, and has a ...
below
Bratsk Bratsk (, ; ) is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara, Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. It had population of . Etymology The name of the city, which is from the same ro ...
which was not easily navigable because of the rapids, and the Lena, were mostly navigable only in the north–south direction, making west–east transportation difficult. An attempt to partially remedy the situation by building the
Ob–Yenisei Canal The Ob–Yenisei Canal, also known as the Ket-Kas Canal is a disused waterway that connected the basins of the rivers Ob River, Ob and Yenisei River, Yenisei in Siberia. Location The waterway connected the Ket River, a tributary of the Ob River, ...
had not yielded great success. These issues in the region created the need for a railway to be constructed. The first railway projects in Siberia emerged after the completion of the
Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway The Saint Petersburg to Moscow railway (1855–1923 – ''Nikolaevskaya railway'') runs for through four oblasts: Leningrad Oblast, Leningrad, Novgorod Oblast, Novgorod, Tver Oblast, Tver and Moscow Oblast, Moscow. It is a major traffic artery ...
in 1851. One of the first was the
Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...
Chita project, proposed by the American entrepreneur
Perry Collins Perry McDonough Collins (1813–1900)
timeline at frontiers.loc.govCorday Mackay
Constantine Possiet with a view toward connecting Moscow to the
Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...
, and consequently the Pacific Ocean. Siberia's governor,
Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky Count Nikolay Nikolayevich Muravyov-Amursky (also spelled as Nikolai Nikolaevich Muraviev-Amurskiy; ; – ) was a Russian general, statesman and diplomat, who played a major role in the expansion of the Russian Empire into the Amur River basin a ...
, was anxious to advance Russian colonization of the now
Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...
, but his plans were unfeasible due to colonists importing grain and food from China and Korea. It was on Muravyov's initiative that surveys for a railway in the
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...
region were conducted. Before 1880, the central government had virtually ignored these projects, due to weaknesses in Siberian enterprises, an inefficient bureaucracy, and financial risk. By 1880, there was a large number of rejected and upcoming applications for permission to construct railways in order 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 actual route constructed, alternative projects were proposed: * Southern route: via
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
,
Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...
,
Abakan Abakan ( ; , ) is the capital city of Khakassia, Russia, located in the central part of the Minusinsk Depression, at the confluence of the Yenisei and Abakan Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 165,214—a slight incre ...
and Mongolia. * Northern route: via
Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...
,
Tobolsk Tobolsk (, ) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1587, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and was the historic capita ...
,
Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...
,
Yeniseysk Yeniseysk ( rus, Енисейск, p=jɪnʲɪˈsʲejsk) is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. Population: 20,000 (1970). History Yeniseysk was founded in 1619 as a stockaded town—the first town on the Yenisei ...
and the modern
Baikal Amur Mainline Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
or even through
Yakutsk Yakutsk ( ) is the capital and largest city of Sakha, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of Russia's most rapidly growing regional cities, with a population of 355,443 at the ...
. The line was divided into seven sections, most or all of which was simultaneously worked on by 62,000 workers. With financial support provided by leading European financier, Baron Henri Hottinguer of the Parisian bankers
Hottinger & Cie Hottinger Group is an international wealth management business headquartered in London providing family office, Investment banking and other associated financial services. List of oldest banks in continuous operation, Hottinger is known as one o ...
, the total cost estimated at £35 million was raised with the first section (Chelyabinsk to the River Ob) and finished at a cost of £900,000 lower than anticipated. Railwaymen argued against suggestions to save funds, such as installing ferryboats instead of bridges over the rivers until traffic increased. Unlike the rejected private projects that intended to connect the existing cities that required 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. However, due to the swampy banks of the Ob River near
Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...
(the largest settlement at the time), the idea to construct a bridge was rejected. The railway was laid to the south (instead crossing the Ob at Novonikolaevsk, later renamed
Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
); a dead-end branch line connected with Tomsk, depriving the city of the prospective transit railway traffic and trade.


Construction

On 9 March 1891, the Russian government issued an
imperial rescript A rescript is a public government document. More formally, it is a document issued not on the initiative of the author, but in response to a question (usually legal) posed to the author. The word originates from replies issued by Roman emperors t ...
in which it announced its intention to construct a railway across Siberia. Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II) inaugurated the construction of the railway in Vladivostok on 19 May that year. Lake Baikal is more than long and more than deep. Until the Circum-Baikal Railway was built the line ended on either side of the lake. The ice-breaking
train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...
built in 1897 and smaller ferry ''SS Angara'' built in about 1900 made the four-hour crossing to link the two railheads. The Russian admiral and explorer
Stepan Makarov Stepan Osipovich Makarov (, ; – ) was a Russian vice-admiral, commander in the Imperial Russian Navy, oceanographer, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. He was a pioneer of insubmersibility theory (the ...
(1849–1904) designed ''Baikal'' and ''Angara'' but they were built in
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
, by
Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Tyne and Wear, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomot ...
. They were "knock down" vessels; that is, each ship was bolted together in the United Kingdom, 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. Their boilers, engines and some other components were built 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 ...
and transported to Listvyanka to be installed. ''Baikal'' had 15 boilers, four funnels, and was long. it could carry 24 railway coaches and one locomotive on the middle deck. ''Angara'' was smaller, with two funnels. 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 The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
but ''Angara'' survives. It has been restored and is permanently moored at Irkutsk where it serves as an office and a museum. 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 Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
to Vladivostok that, to this day, is the world's second longest railway line. Electrification of the line, begun in 1929 and completed in 2002, allowed a doubling of train weights to . There were expectations upon electrification that it would increase rail traffic on the line by 40 percent. The entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway was double track by 1939.


Effects

Siberian agriculture began to send cheap grain westwards beginning around 1869. Agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of
serfdom 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 du ...
, which was formally abolished in 1861. To defend the central territory and prevent possible social destabilization, the Tsarist government introduced the
Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
-break () in 1896, a tariff barrier for grain passing through Chelyabinsk, and a similar barrier in
Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
. This measure changed the nature of export: mills emerged to produce bread from grain in
Altai Krai Altai Krai (, ) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai). It borders, clockwise from the west, Kazakhstan ( East Kazakhstan Region, Abai Region and Pavlodar Region), Novosibirsk and Kemerovo, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative ce ...
,
Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
and
Tomsk Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...
, and many farms switched to
corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
(maize) production. The railway immediately filled to capacity with local traffic, mostly wheat. From 1896 until 1913 Siberia exported on average (30,643,000
pood ''Pood'' ( rus, пуд, r=pud, p=put, plural: or ) is a unit of mass equal to 40 Funt (mass), ''funt'' (, Russian pound). Since 1899 it is set to approximately 16.38 kilograms (36.11 pound (mass), pounds). It was used in Russia, Belarus, and Ukr ...
) of grain and flour annually. During the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
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. Between 1906 and 1914, the peak migration years, about 4 million peasants arrived in Siberia. Historian
Christian Wolmar Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party campaigner.their war with Russia. Wolmar concludes:


War and revolution

In the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
(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 traveling from east to west would delay the arrival of troops or supplies and ammunition in a train traveling from west to east. The supply difficulties meant the Russian forces had limited troops and supplies while Japanese forces with shorter lines of communication were able to attack and advance. After the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
of 1917, the railway served as the vital line of communication for the
Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...
and the allied armies that landed troops at Vladivostok during the Siberian Intervention of the
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
. These forces supported the White Russian government of Admiral
Alexander Kolchak Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ruler of Russia in 1918, Kolchak headed a mili ...
, based in
Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...
, 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 Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...
and Chita. The leader of legions politician Milan Rastislav Stefanik traveled from Moscow to Vladivostok in March to August 1918, on his journey to Japan and the United States of America. The Trans-Siberian Railway also played a very direct role during parts of Russia's history, with the
Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...
using heavily armed and
armored train An armoured train (Commonwealth English) or armored train (American English) is a railway train protected with vehicle armour, heavy metal plating and which often includes railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns, and autocannons. So ...
s to control large amounts of the railway (and of Russia itself) during the
Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
at the end of World War I. As one of the few fighting forces left in the aftermath of the imperial collapse, and before the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
took control, the
Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...
and
Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...
were able to use their organization 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 Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
.


World War II

During World War II, the Trans-Siberian Railway played an important role in the supply of the powers fighting in Europe. In 1939–1941 it was a source of rubber for Germany thanks to the USSR-Germany pact. While Germany's merchant shipping was shut down, the Trans-Siberian Railway (along with its Trans-Manchurian branch) served as the essential link between Germany and Japan, especially for rubber. By March 1941, of this material would, on average, traverse the Trans-Siberian Railway every day on its way to Germany. At the same time, a number of Jews and anti-Nazis used the Trans-Siberian Railway to escape Europe, including the mathematician
Kurt Gödel Kurt Friedrich Gödel ( ; ; April 28, 1906 – January 14, 1978) was a logician, mathematician, and philosopher. Considered along with Aristotle and Gottlob Frege to be one of the most significant logicians in history, Gödel profoundly ...
and Betty Ehrlich Löwenstein, mother of British actor, director and producer
Heinz Bernard Heinz Bernhard Löwenstein, known as Heinz Bernard (22 December 1923 – 18 December 1994) was a British actor and director and theatre manager. Of Polish-Jewish and German-Jewish descent, he lived and worked in Israel from 1971-81. He trained ...
. Several thousand Jewish refugees were able to make this trip thanks to the Curaçao visas issued by the Dutch consul
Jan Zwartendijk Jan Zwartendijk (29 July 1896 – 14 September 1976) was a Dutch businessman and diplomat. As director of the Philips factories in Lithuania and part-time acting consul of the Dutch government-in-exile, he supervised the writing of 2,345 visas f ...
and the Japanese visas issued by the Japanese consul,
Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japan ...
, in
Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...
, Lithuania. Typically, they took the TSR to
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
, then by ship to US. Until June 1941, pro-Nazi ethnic Germans from the Americas used the TSR to go to Germany. 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 and later large oceanic submarines to evade the Allied blockade. On the other hand, the USSR received
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...
supplies from the US. Even after Japan went to war with the US, despite German complaints, Japan usually allowed Soviet ships to sail between the US and Vladivostok unmolested. As a result, the Pacific Route – via northern Pacific Ocean and the TSR – became the safest connection between the US and the USSR. Accordingly, it accounted for as much freight as the North Atlantic–Arctic and
Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...
routes combined, though cargoes were limited to raw materials and non-military goods. From 1941 to 1942 the TSR also played an important role in relocating Soviet industries from European Russia to Siberia in the face of the German invasion. The TSR also transported Soviet troops west from the Far East to take part in the Soviet counter-offensive in December 1941. In 1944–45 the TSR was used to prepare for the
Soviet–Japanese War The Soviet–Japanese War)Known in Mongolia as the Liberation War of 1945 () was a campaign of the Second World War that began with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria following the Soviet declaration of war against Japan on 8 August 1945. The ...
of August 1945; see Pacific Route. When an Anglo-American delegation visited Moscow in October 1944 to discuss the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan,
Alanbrooke Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Secon ...
was told by General Antonov and Stalin himself that the line capacity was 36 pairs of trains per day, but only 26 could be counted on for military traffic; see Pacific Route. The capacity of each train was from 600 to 700 tons. Although the Japanese estimated that an attack was not likely before Spring 1946, ''Stavka'' 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.


Post World War II

A trainload of containers can be taken from Beijing to
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, via the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian lines in as little as 15 days, but typical cargo transit times are usually significantly longer and typical cargo transit time from Japan to major destinations in European Russia was reported as around 25 days. According to a 2009 report, the best travel times for cargo
block train A unit train, also called a block train or a trainload service, is a train in which all cars (wagons) carry the same commodity and are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route. They are disti ...
s from Russia's Pacific ports to the western border (of Russia, or perhaps of
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
) were around 12 days, with trains making around per day, at a maximum operating speed of . In early 2009; however, Russian Railways announced an ambitious "Trans-Siberian in Seven Days" plan. 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 distance in just seven days. The plan will involve increasing the cargo trains' speed to in 2010–2012, and, at least on some sections, to by 2015. At these speeds, goods trains will be able to cover per day.


Crime

From February to May 1993, a number of
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
-based gangs routinely robbed, beat, and raped railway passengers. The criminals took advantage of the fact that Chinese police disembarked the train before the border crossing into Mongolia, but no Mongolian police ever boarded to replace them, and Russian authorities did not board until the train had been in Siberia for an entire day. During the interim, there was no effective security on the trains, and no practical resistance to criminals armed with knives, sticks, and cattle prods.


Developments in shipping

On January 11, 2008, China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Germany agreed to collaborate on a cargo train service between Beijing and Hamburg. The railway can typically deliver containers in to 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 Trans-Siberian Railway will transport a forty-foot container to Poland from
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
for $2,820, or from
Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
for $2,154.


Gallery

File:Yaroslavsky rail terminal front side.jpg, Start of Trans-Siberian railway in Moscow File:Prokudin-Gorskii-23.jpg, Bashkir switchman near the town Ust' Katav on the Yuryuzan River between Ufa and
Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...
in the
Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.
region, c. 1910 File:Simskaia train station.jpg, View from the rear platform of the Simskaia railway station of the Samara–Zlatoust Railway, c. 1910 File:Транссибирска железница.JPG, Almost every station on Trans-Siberian Railway has food sellers, often local vendors who sell local food such as fish (like Baikal omul),
pirozhki Pirozhki (, ; , ) are Russian baked or fried yeast-leavened boat-shaped buns with a variety of fillings. Pirozhki are a popular street food and comfort food. They are also popular in other countries. The word ''pirozhki'' is a diminutive of ...
, and potatoes. Besides food stands, there are also small kiosks File:Trans Sibir.JPG, Snow in late April at Nazyvayevsk station, Siberia File:SS Baikal.jpg, The icebreaking train ferry in service on Lake Baikal File:Trans-Siberian tunnel.jpg, Train entering a Circum-Baikal tunnel west of Kultuk File:Vladstation.jpg,
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway File:Vladivostok distencemonument.JPG, The marker for kilometer 9,288 (mile 5,771.3) at the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway at
Vladivostok railway station Vladivostok railway station is a railway station in Vladivostok, Russia. It is the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Also, Aeroexpress (Express Primorya) from this station to Vladivostok International Airport ( Knevichi Railway ...
File:Prokudin-Gorskii-25.jpg, Bridge over the
Kama River The Kama ( , ; ; ), also known as the Chulman ( ; ), is a long«Река КАМА»
Russian St ...
, near
Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places * Perm, Russia, a city in Russia **Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 ** Perm Governorate, an administr ...
, built in 1912


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. 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 Moscow Yaroslavsky railway station () is one of the nine main railway stations in Moscow. Situated on Komsomolskaya Square (close to the Kazansky and Leningradsky Stations), Moscow Yaroslavskaya has the highest passenger throughput of all ni ...
; this would save some 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 Kursky railway terminal (, ''Kursky vokzal''), also known as Moscow Kurskaya railway station (, ''Moskva-Kurskaya''), is one of the ten railway terminals in Moscow. It was built in 1896, and renovated (without major design changes) in 1938, then ...
to
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
, 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 Yaroslavl (; , ) 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 confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...
instead of
Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...
. This would add some to the distances from Moscow, making the total distance to Vladivostok at . * Other trains get from Moscow (Kazansky Terminal) to Yekaterinburg via
Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
. * Between Yekaterinburg and Omsk it is possible to travel via Kurgan
Petropavl Petropavl ( ; ) is a city on the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia. It is the capital of the North Kazakhstan Region. Population: 218,956. Petropavl is about from Kökşetau, northwest of the national cap ...
ovsk (in
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
) instead of Tyumen. * One can bypass Yekaterinburg altogether by traveling via
Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...
, Ufa,
Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...
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 (a few dozen miles).


Trans-Manchurian line

The Trans–Manchurian line, as e.g. used by train No.020, Moscow–Beijing 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 ( from Moscow) * Zabaikalsk (), Russian border town; there is a
break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally canno ...
* Manzhouli ( from Moscow, from
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
), Chinese border city *
Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
(, 1,388 km) Chinese city *
Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...
( from Moscow) Chinese city *
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
( from Moscow) the Chinese capital 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 Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...
break) inconveniences of crossing the border twice. Assuming sufficient patience and possession of appropriate visas, however, it is still possible to travel all the way along the original route, with a few stopovers (e.g. in
Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
,
Grodekovo Pogranichny () is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Pogranichny District of Primorsky Krai, Russia, located east of the China–Russia border and northwest of Vladivostok. Population: History In 1 ...
and
Ussuriysk Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...
). Such an itinerary would pass through the following points from Harbin east: *
Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
( from Moscow) *
Mudanjiang Mudanjiang (; Manchu language, Manchu: ''Mudan bira''), postal romanization, alternately romanized as Mutankiang, is a prefecture-level city in the southeast part of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. It was called ''Botankou'' un ...
() *
Suifenhe Suifenhe () is a county-level city in southeastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, located where the former Chinese Eastern Railway crosses the border with Russia's town of Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai. In January 2014, Sui ...
(), the Chinese border station *
Grodekovo Pogranichny () is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Pogranichny District of Primorsky Krai, Russia, located east of the China–Russia border and northwest of Vladivostok. Population: History In 1 ...
(), Russia *
Ussuriysk Ussuriysk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the valley of the Razdolnaya River. The city is north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia bo ...
() *
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
()


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 Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and China: * Branch off from the Trans-Siberian line ( from Moscow) * Naushki (, MT+5), Russian border town * Russian–
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
n border (, MT+5) * Sükhbaatar (, MT+5), Mongolian border town *
Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...
(, MT+5), the Mongolian capital *
Zamyn-Üüd Zamyn-Üüd (; , ''road's gate'') is a sum (district) of Dornogovi Province in southeastern Mongolia. Its population was 11,527 in 2008. History Zamyn-Üüd's actual name comes from the former Dzamiin Üüde settlement located northwest from ...
(, MT+5), Mongolian border city *
Erenhot Erenhot ( ; zh, s=二连浩特, p=Èrliánhàotè, commonly shortened to Ereen or Erlian) is a county-level city under jurisdiction of the Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia, China, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, ac ...
( from
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, MT+5), Chinese border city *
Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...
(, MT+5) Chinese city *
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
(MT+5) the Chinese capital


Highest point

The highest point of Trans–Siberian Railroad is at Yablonovy pass at an altitude of 1070m situated in the Yablonoi Mountains, in
Transbaikal Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykal'ye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal at the south side of the eastern Si ...
(mainly in
Zabaykalsky Krai Zabaykalsky Krai is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the Russian Far East. Its administrative center is Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Chita. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, the population was ...
),
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, Russia. The Trans–Siberian Railroad passes the mountains at Chita and runs parallel to the range before going through a tunnel to bypass the heights.


See also

*
Baikal–Amur Mainline The Baikal–Amur Mainline (, , , ) is a broad-gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the -long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 480 miles) north of and parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway. ...
*
Famous trains In the history of rail transport, dating back to the 19th century, there have been hundreds of named passenger trains. The following is a list of named trains. Lists of these have been organized into geographical regions. Trains with numeric na ...
*
History of Siberia The early history of Siberia was greatly influenced by the sophisticated nomadic civilizations of the Scythians ( Pazyryk) on the west of the Ural Mountains and Xiongnu ( Noin-Ula) on the east of the Urals, both flourishing before the common era. ...
*
Russian gauge Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
**
Broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...
*
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. ...
* Sibirjak * ''
Starlight Express '' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and el ...
'', a train musical in which a character is modeled on the Trans-Siberian Express. * Trans-Siberian Railway Panorama * Eastbound


Notes


References


Travel handbooks

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Further reading

* * Banerjee, Anindita. "The Trans-Siberian Railroad and Russia's Asia: Literature, Geopolitics, Philosophy of History" ''Clio''. Fall2004/Winter2005, Vol. 34 Issue 1/2, pp 19–40. * Cherkashin, A. "Trans-Siberian railway and interrelation of economic development of regions." ''IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science'' Vol. 190. No. 1. 201
online
* * Dmitriev-Mamanov, A.I. and A. F. Zdziarski, eds. ''Guide to the Great Siberian Railway 1900'' (reprinted by David & Charles, 1971), the official guide; also covers the local towns and people
online
* * Garbutt, P. E. "The Trans-Siberian Railway." ''Journal of Transport History'' 4 (1954): 238–249. * Grams, Grant W. (2021). ''Return Migration of German Nationals from the United States and Canada, 1933–1941'' (Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland Publications_ * Hookham, Hilda. "Builders of the Trans-Siberian Railway" ''History Today'' (Aug 1966), Vol. 16 Issue 8, pp. 528–37 * Jefferson, Robert L. ''Roughing it in Siberia'' ((Sampson Low, Marston, 1987) * * Meakin, Annette M. B. ''A Ribbon of Iron'' (BiblioLife, 2009). * * * Mironova, Marina Nikolaevna, Natalia Gennadievna Kuznetsova, and Aleksandr Nikolaevich Sholudko. "Types of cities of the Trans-Siberian railway: Dynamics of population and industrial functions." ''RUDN Journal of Economics'' 25.4 (2017): 553–565. * * Pepe, Jacopo Maria. "The "Eastern Polygon" of the Trans-Siberian rail line: a critical factor for assessing Russia's strategy toward Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific." ''Asia Europe Journal'' 18.3 (2020): 305–324. * Read, Arnot. ''From Peking to Petersburg'' (BiblioLife, 2009 * * Guide book for travelers * Sahi, Juha. "The Trans-Siberian railway as a corridor of trade between Finland and Japan in the midst of world crises." ''Journal of Transport History'' 36.1 (2015): 58–76. * Guide book for travelers * , wide-ranging popular history. * * * * *


External links


Trans-Siberian Railway
National Geographic Expeditions website
Trans-Siberian Railway: a view from Moscow to Vladivostok – a photo essay
(27 December 2016), ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. Photographs of "life on board the Trans-Siberian Railway, and beyond the carriage window".
Russian Railways official website


*
''Guide to the Great Siberian Railway''
(1900) * * * illustrated description of the route and the train *

{{Authority control 1916 in rail transport Rail transport in Siberia Rail transport in the Russian Far East Railway lines in Russia Train-related introductions in 1916