Trans-Siberian Railway

External videos
External videos
on RT Documentary Official YouTube Channel(in English)
	Trans-Siberian Odyssey (Trailer) on YouTube
	Sad holiday parting & bumpy start – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E1) on YouTube
	Irate passengers, strange guests & holiday cheer – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E2) on YouTube
	Father Frost and a Snowmaiden pay the train a visit – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E3) on YouTube
	Father Frost and a Snowmaiden pay the train a visit – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E4) on YouTube
	Cabin fever, Christmas carols, and a concerning call – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E5) on YouTube
	Bargains in Russia's Far East & short circuit in a freight car – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E6) on YouTube
	Food poisoning on board & a tough decision – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E7) on YouTube
	Raw nerves, ruined rendezvous, and a tragedy dodged – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E8) on YouTube
	A joyous arrival & nervous reunion – Trans-Siberian Odyssey (E9) on YouTube

Trans-Siberian Railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
	VL85 container haul along the coast of Lake Baikal (2008)
Overview
Native name	Транссибирская магистраль (Russian)
Status	Operational
Owner	Government of Russia
Locale	Russia
Termini	Moscow Yaroslavsky; Vladivostok;
Service
Type	Regional; commuter; freight;
System	FER, SZhD, V-SibZhD, Z-SibZhD, KrasZhD, SvZhD, ZabZhD
Operator(s)	Russian Railways
History
Commenced	March 9, 1891
Opened	June 21, 1904
Technical
Line length	9,289 km (5,772 mi)
Number of tracks	3
Character	Long-haul route
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge
Electrification	3 kV DC/25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead line
Operating speed	60–140 km/h (37–87 mph)
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	0 km
	0 mi
	Yaroslavsky
	Terminal
	59 km
	37 mi
	73 km
	45 mi
	Moscow Oblast
	Vladimir Oblast
	112 km
	70 mi
	130 km
	81 mi
	Vladimir Oblast
	Yaroslavl Oblast
	145 km
	90 mi
	165 km
	103 mi
	191 km
	119 mi
	200 km
	124 mi
	210 km
	130 mi
	224 km
	139 mi
	239 km
	149 mi
	262 km
	163 mi
	281 km
	175 mi
	284 km
	176 mi
Yaroslavl-Glavny
	289 km
	180 mi
	356 km
	221 mi
	394 km
	245 mi
	Yaroslavl Oblast
	Kostroma Oblast
	450 km
	280 mi
	501 km
	311 mi
	651 km
	405 mi
	698 km
	434 mi
	Kostroma Oblast
	Kirov Oblast
	818 km
	508 mi
	870 km
	541 mi
	957 km
	595 mi
Kirov
	975 km
	606 mi
	995 km
	618 mi
	1052 km
	654 mi
	1127 km
	700 mi
	Kirov Oblast
	Udmurtia
	1165 km
	724 mi
	to Solkamsk, Serov, Demyanka & Surgut
	(with 25 kV 50 Hz AC electrification)
	1194 km
	742 mi

The Trans-Siberian Railway,^[a] historically known as the Great Siberian Route^[b] and often shortened to Transsib,^[c] is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East.^[1] Spanning a length of over 9,289 kilometers (5,772 miles), it is the longest railway line in the world.^[2] It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the east.

During the period of the Russian Empire, government ministers—personally appointed by Alexander III and his son Nicholas II—supervised the building of the railway network between 1891 and 1916. Even before its completion, the line attracted travelers who documented their experiences.^[3] Since 1916, the Trans-Siberian Railway has directly connected Moscow with Vladivostok. As of 2021^[update], expansion projects remain underway, with connections being built to Russia's neighbors Mongolia, China, and North Korea.^[4]^[5] Additionally, there have been proposals and talks to expand the network to Tokyo, Japan, with new bridges or tunnels that would connect the mainland railway via the Russian island of Sakhalin and the Japanese island of Hokkaido.^[4]

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 9,289 kilometers (5,772 miles),^[6] it spans a record eight time zones.^[7] Taking eight days to complete the journey, it was the third-longest single continuous service in the world,^[when?] after the Moscow–Pyongyang service 10,267 kilometers (6,380 mi)^[8] and the former Kiev–Vladivostok service 11,085 kilometers (6,888 mi),^[9] both of which also follow the Trans-Siberian for much of their routes.^[10]

The main route begins in Moscow at Yaroslavsky Vokzal, runs through Yaroslavl or Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, and Khabarovsk to Vladivostok via southern Siberia. A second primary route is the Trans-Manchurian, which coincides with the Trans-Siberian east of Chita as far as Tarskaya (a stop 12 km (7 mi) east of Karymskoye, in Chita Oblast), about 1,000 km (621 mi) east of Lake Baikal. From Tarskaya the Trans-Manchurian heads southeast, via Harbin Harbin–Manzhouli railway and Mudanjiang 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 just north of Vladivostok.

The third primary route is the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which coincides with the Trans-Siberian as far as Ulan-Ude on Lake Baikal's eastern shore. From Ulan-Ude the Trans-Mongolian heads south to Ulaanbaatar before making its way southeast to Beijing. In 1991, a fourth route running further to the north was finally completed, after more than five decades of sporadic work. Known as the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM), this recent extension departs from the Trans-Siberian line at Taishet several hundred miles west of Lake Baikal and passes the lake at its northernmost extremity. It crosses the Amur River at Komsomolsk-na-Amure (north of Khabarovsk), and reaches the Tatar Strait at Sovetskaya Gavan.^[10]

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 roads, many of which were the same rivers but frozen.^[11]

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 in 1863, and on the Lena and Amur in the 1870s. While the comparative flatness of Western Siberia was served by good river systems, the major river systems Ob–Irtysh–Tobol–Chulym of Eastern Siberia had difficulties. The Yenisei, the upper course of the Angara River below Bratsk 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 had not yielded great success. These issues in the region created the need for a railway to be constructed.^[10]

The first railway projects in Siberia emerged after the completion of the Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway in 1851.^[12] One of the first was the Irkutsk–Chita project, proposed by the American entrepreneur Perry Collins and supported by Transport Minister Constantine Possiet with a view toward connecting Moscow to the Amur River, and consequently the Pacific Ocean. Siberia's governor, Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky, was anxious to advance Russian colonization of the now Russian Far East, but his plans were unfeasible due to colonists importing grain and food from China and Korea.^[13] It was on Muravyov's initiative that surveys for a railway in the Khabarovsk region were conducted.

Before 1880, the central government had virtually ignored these projects, 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, Barnaul, Abakan and Mongolia.
Northern route: via Tyumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Yeniseysk and the modern Baikal Amur Mainline or even through Yakutsk.

The line was divided into seven sections, 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, 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.^[14] 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 (the largest settlement at the time), the idea to construct a bridge was rejected.

The railway was laid 70 km (43 mi) to the south (instead crossing the Ob at Novonikolaevsk, later renamed Novosibirsk); a dead-end branch line connected with Tomsk, depriving the city of the prospective transit railway traffic and trade.^[10]

Construction

On 9 March 1891, the Russian government issued an imperial rescript in which it announced its intention to construct a railway across Siberia.^[15] Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II) inaugurated the construction of the railway in Vladivostok on 19 May that year.^[16]

Lake Baikal is more than 640 kilometers (400 miles) long and more than 1,600 meters (5,200 feet) deep. Until the Circum-Baikal Railway was built the line ended on either side of the lake. The ice-breaking train ferry SS Baikal built in 1897 and smaller ferry SS Angara built in about 1900 made the four-hour crossing to link the two railheads.^[17]^[18]

The Russian admiral and explorer Stepan Makarov (1849–1904) designed Baikal and Angara but they were built in Newcastle upon Tyne, by Armstrong Whitworth. 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.^[18] Their boilers, engines and some other components were built in Saint Petersburg^[18] and transported to Listvyanka to be installed. Baikal had 15 boilers, four funnels, and was 64 meters (210 ft) long. it could carry 24 railway coaches and one locomotive on the middle deck. Angara was smaller, with two funnels.^[17]^[18]

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^[17]^[18] but Angara survives. It has been restored and is permanently moored at Irkutsk where it serves as an office and a museum.^[17]

In winter, sleighs were used to move passengers and cargo from one side of the lake to the other until the completion of the Lake Baikal spur along the southern edge of the lake. With the Amur River Line north of the Chinese border being completed in 1916, there was a continuous railway from Petrograd to Vladivostok that, 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 6,000 metric tons (5,900 long tons; 6,600 short tons). There were expectations upon electrification that it would increase rail traffic on the line by 40 percent.^[19]

The entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway was double track by 1939.^[20]

Effects

Siberian agriculture began to send cheap grain westwards beginning around 1869.^{[citation needed]} Agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of serfdom, which was formally abolished in 1861. To defend the central territory and prevent possible social destabilization, the Tsarist government introduced the Chelyabinsk tariff-break (Челябинский тарифный перелом) in 1896, a tariff barrier for grain passing through Chelyabinsk, and a similar barrier in Manchuria. This measure changed the nature of export: mills emerged to produce bread from grain in Altai Krai, Novosibirsk and Tomsk, and many farms switched to corn (maize) production.

The railway immediately filled to capacity with local traffic, mostly wheat. From 1896 until 1913 Siberia exported on average 501,932 metric tons (494,005 long tons; 553,285 short tons) (30,643,000 pood) of grain and flour annually.^[21] During the Russo-Japanese War 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.^[22] Between 1906 and 1914, the peak migration years, about four million peasants arrived in Siberia.^[23]

Historian Christian Wolmar argues that the railroad was a failure, because it was built for narrow political reasons, with poor supervision and planning. The costs were vastly exaggerated to enrich greedy bureaucrats. The planners hoped it would stimulate settlement, but the Siberian lands were too infertile and cold and distant. There was little settlement beyond 30 miles (48 km) from the line. The fragile system could not handle the heavy traffic demanded in wartime, so the Japanese in 1904 knew they were safe in their war with Russia. Wolmar concludes:

The railway, which was single track throughout, with the occasional passing loop, had, unsurprisingly, been built to a deficient standard in virtually every way. The permanent way was flimsy, with lightweight rails that broke easily, insufficient ballast, and railroad ties often carved from green wood that rotted in the first year of use. The small bridges were made of soft pine and rotted easily. The embankments were too shallow and narrow, often just 10 feet (3.0 m) wide instead of the 16 feet (4.9 m) prescribed in the design, and easily washed away. There were vicious gradients and narrow curves that wore out the fringe flanges on the wheels of the rolling stock after as little as six weeks use.^[24]

War and revolution

In the Russo-Japanese War (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 of 1917, the railway served as the vital line of communication for the Czechoslovak Legion and the allied armies that landed troops at Vladivostok during the Siberian Intervention of the Russian Civil War. These forces supported the White Russian government of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, based in Omsk, and White Russian soldiers fighting the Bolsheviks on the Ural front. The intervention was weakened, and ultimately defeated, by partisan fighters who blew up bridges and sections of track, particularly in the volatile region between Krasnoyarsk and Chita.^[25]

The leader of legions politician Milan Rastislav Stefanik^[26] traveled from Moscow to Vladivostok in March to August 1918, on his journey to Japan and the United States of America.^[27] The Trans-Siberian Railway also played a very direct role during parts of Russia's history, with the Czechoslovak Legion using heavily armed and armored trains to control large amounts of the railway (and of Russia itself) during the Russian Civil War at the end of World War I.^[28] As one of the few fighting forces left in the aftermath of the imperial collapse, and before the Red Army took control, the Czechs and Slovaks were able to use their 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.

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, 300 metric tons (300 long tons; 330 short tons) of this material would, on average, traverse the Trans-Siberian Railway every day on its way to Germany.^[29]

At the same time, a number of Jews and anti-Nazis used the Trans-Siberian Railway to escape Europe, including the mathematician Kurt Gödel and Betty Ehrlich Löwenstein, mother of British actor, director and producer Heinz Bernard.^[30] Several thousand Jewish refugees were able to make this trip thanks to the Curaçao visas issued by the Dutch consul Jan Zwartendijk^[31] and the Japanese visas issued by the Japanese consul, Chiune Sugihara, in Kaunas, Lithuania. Typically, they took the TSR to Vladivostok, then by ship to US. Until June 1941, pro-Nazi ethnic Germans from the Americas used the TSR to go to Germany.^[32]

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 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.^[33] As a result, the Pacific Route – via northern Pacific Ocean and the TSR – became the safest connection between the US and the USSR.^{[citation needed]}

Accordingly, it accounted for as much freight as the North Atlantic–Arctic and Iranian 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 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 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.^[34]

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.^[35]

Post World War II

A trainload of containers can be taken from Beijing to Hamburg, via the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian lines in as little as 15 days, but typical cargo transit times are usually significantly longer^[36] and typical cargo transit time from Japan to major destinations in European Russia was reported as around 25 days.^[37]

According to a 2009 report, the best travel times for cargo block trains from Russia's Pacific ports to the western border (of Russia, or perhaps of Belarus) were around 12 days, with trains making around 900 km (600 mi) per day, at a maximum operating speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). 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 9,000 km (6,000 mi) distance in just seven days. The plan will involve increasing the cargo trains' speed to 90 km/h (60 mph) in 2010–2012, and, at least on some sections, to 100 km/h (60 mph) by 2015. At these speeds, goods trains will be able to cover 1,500 km (900 mi) per day.^[38]

Crime

From February to May 1993, a number of Beijing-based gangs routinely robbed, beat, and raped railway passengers.^[39] 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.^[40]

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.^[41]

The railway can typically deliver containers in 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 of the time of a sea voyage, and in late 2009 announced a 20% reduction in its container shipping rates.^{[citation needed]} With its 2009 rate schedule, the Trans-Siberian Railway will transport a forty-foot container to Poland from Yokohama for $2,820, or from Busan for $2,154.^[42]

Gallery

Start of the Trans-Siberian railway in Moscow
The "Zero Kilometer" kilometer marker at Yaroslavsky Station in Moscow indicates the length of the Trans-Siberian Railway—the distance from Moscow to Vladivostok.
Bashkir switchman near the town Ust' Katav on the Yuryuzan River between Ufa and Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains region, c. 1910
View from the rear platform of the Simskaia railway station of the Samara–Zlatoust Railway, c. 1910
Almost every station on Trans-Siberian Railway has food sellers, often local vendors who sell local food such as fish (like Baikal omul), pirozhki, and potatoes. Besides food stands, there are also small kiosks.
Snow in late April at Nazyvayevsk station, Siberia
The icebreaking train ferry SS Baikal in service on Lake Baikal
Train entering a Circum-Baikal tunnel west of Kultuk
Vladivostok terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway
The marker for kilometer 9,288 (mile 5,771.3) at the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway at Vladivostok railway station
Bridge over the Kama River, near Perm, 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.^[6]

Location	Distance	Travel Time	Time Zone	Notes
Moscow, Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal	0 km (0 mi)		Moscow Time (MT)
Vladimir	210 km (130 mi)		MT
Nizhny Novgorod	461 km (286 mi)	6 hours	MT	On the Volga River
Kirov	917 km (570 mi)	13 hours	MT	On the Vyatka River
Perm	1,397 km (868 mi)	20 hours	MT+2	On the Kama River
Yekaterinburg	1,816 km (1,128 mi)	1 day 2 hours	MT+2	In the Urals, still called by its old Soviet name Sverdlovsk in most timetables
Tyumen	2,104 km (1,307 mi)		MT+2
Omsk	2,676 km (1,663 mi)	1 day 14 hours	MT+3	On the Irtysh River
Novosibirsk	3,303 km (2,052 mi)	1 day 22 hours	MT+4	On the Ob River; Turk-Sib railway branches from here
Krasnoyarsk	4,065 km (2,526 mi)	2 days 11 hours	MT+4	On the Yenisei River
Taishet	4,483 km (2,786 mi)		MT+5	Junction with the Baikal-Amur Mainline
Irkutsk	5,153 km (3,202 mi)	3 days 4 hours	MT+5	Near Lake Baikal's southern extremity
Ulan Ude	5,609 km (3,485 mi)	3 days 12 hours	MT+5	Eastern shore of Lake Baikal
Junction with the Trans-Mongolian line	5,622 km (3,493 mi)
Chita	6,166 km (3,831 mi)	3 days 22 hours	MT+6
Junction with the Trans-Manchurian line at Tarskaya	6,274 km (3,898 mi)		MT+6
Birobidzhan	8,312 km (5,165 mi)	5 days 13 hours	MT+7	Capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region
Khabarovsk	8,493 km (5,277 mi)	5 days 15 hours	MT+7	On the Amur River
Ussuriysk	9,147 km (5,684 mi)		MT+7	Junction with the Trans-Manchurian line and Korea branch; located in Baranovsky, 13 km (8 miles) from Ussuriysk
Vladivostok	9,289 km (5,772 mi)	6 days 4 hours	MT+7	On the Pacific Ocean
Services to North Korea continue from Ussuriysk via:
Primorskaya station	9,257 km (5,752 mi)	6 days 14 hours	MT+7
Khasan	9,407 km (5,845 mi)	6 days 19 hours	MT+7	Border with North Korea
Tumangang	9,412 km (5,848 mi)	7 days 10 hours	MT+6	North Korean side of the border
Pyongyang	10,267 km (6,380 mi)	9 days 2 hours	MT+6

There are many alternative routings between Moscow and Siberia. For example:

Some trains would leave Moscow from Kazansky Rail Terminal instead of Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal; this would save some 20 km (12 mi) off the distances, because it provides a shorter exit from Moscow onto the Nizhny Novgorod main line.
One can take a night train from Moscow's Kursky Rail Terminal to Nizhny Novgorod, make a stopover in the Nizhny and then transfer to a Siberia-bound train
From 1956 to 2001 many trains went between Moscow and Kirov via Yaroslavl instead of Nizhny Novgorod. This would add some 29 km (18 mi) to the distances from Moscow, making the total distance to Vladivostok at 9,288 km (5,771 mi).
Other trains get from Moscow (Kazansky Terminal) to Yekaterinburg via Kazan.
Between Yekaterinburg and Omsk it is possible to travel via Kurgan Petropavlovsk (in Kazakhstan) instead of Tyumen.
One can bypass Yekaterinburg altogether by traveling via Samara, Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Petropavlovsk; this was historically the earliest configuration.

Depending on the route taken, the distances from Moscow to the same station in Siberia may differ by several tens of km (a few dozen miles).

Trans-Manchurian line

The Trans–Manchurian line, as e.g. used by train No.020, Moscow–Beijing^[43] follows the same route as the Trans-Siberian between Moscow and Chita and then follows this route to China:

Branch off from the Trans-Siberian-line at Tarskaya (6,274 km (3,898 mi) from Moscow)
Zabaikalsk (6,626 km (4,117 mi)), Russian border town; there is a break-of-gauge
Manzhouli (6,638 km (4,125 mi) from Moscow, 2,323 km (1,443 mi) from Beijing), Chinese border city
Harbin (7,573 km (4,706 mi), 1,388 km) Chinese city
Changchun (7,820 km (4,859 mi) from Moscow) Chinese city
Beijing (8,961 km (5,568 mi) 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 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, Grodekovo and Ussuriysk).^{[citation needed]}

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

Harbin (7,573 km (4,706 mi) from Moscow)
Mudanjiang (7,928 km (4,926 mi))
Suifenhe (8,121 km (5,046 mi)), the Chinese border station
Grodekovo (8,147 km (5,062 mi)), Russia
Ussuriysk (8,244 km (5,123 mi))
Vladivostok (8,356 km (5,192 mi))

Trans-Mongolian line

The Trans–Mongolian line follows the same route as the Trans-Siberian between Moscow and Ulan Ude, and then follows this route to Mongolia and China:

Branch off from the Trans-Siberian line (5,655 km (3,514 mi) from Moscow)
Naushki (5,895 km (3,663 mi), MT+5), Russian border town
Russian–Mongolian border (5,900 km (3,666 mi), MT+5)
Sükhbaatar (5,921 km (3,679 mi), MT+5), Mongolian border town
Ulaanbaatar (6,304 km (3,917 mi), MT+5), the Mongolian capital
Zamyn-Üüd (7,013 km (4,358 mi), MT+5), Mongolian border city
Erenhot (842 km (523 mi) from Beijing, MT+5), Chinese border city
Datong (371 km (231 mi), MT+5) Chinese city
Beijing (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 (mainly in Zabaykalsky Krai), Siberia, 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.^[44]

Notes

^ Russian: Транссибирская магистраль, romanized: Transsibírskaya magistrál, pronounced [trənsːʲɪˈbʲirskəjə məɡʲɪˈstralʲ]
^ Великий Сибирский Путь, Velíkiy Sibírskiy Put, pronounced [vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj sʲɪˈbʲirʲsʲkʲɪj putʲ]
^ /ˈtrænsɪb/ TRAN-sib; Транссиб, pronounced [trɐnˈsːʲip]

References

^ "Lonely Planet Guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway" (PDF). Lonely Planet Publications. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2012.
^ Thomas, Bryn; McCrohan, Daniel (2019). Trans-Siberian Handbook: The Guide to the World's Longest Railway Journey with 90 Maps and Guides to the Route, Cities and Towns in Russia, Mongolia and China (10 ed.). Trailblazer Publications. ISBN 978-1912716081. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
^ Meakin, Annette, A Ribbon of Iron (1901), reprinted in 1970 as part of the Russia Observed series (Arno Press/New York Times)(OCLC 118166).
^ ^a ^b "Russia offers a bridge across history to connect Tokyo to the Trans-Siberian railway". siberiantimes.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
^ "New 8,400 mile train journey will connect London to Tokyo". The Independent. September 8, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on December 3, 2009.
^ Moscow is at UTC+3, Vladivostok is at UTC+10; therefore the line passes through 8 time zones; see map
^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Pyongyang". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 350, Kiev-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Trans-Siberian Railroad". December 7, 2023.
^ P. E. Garbutt, "The Trans-Siberian Railway." Journal of Transport History 4 (1954): 238–249.
^ Alexeev, V.V.; Bandman, M.K.; Kuleshov–Novosibirsk, V. V., eds. (2002). Problem Regions of Resource Type: Economical Integration of European North-East, Ural and Siberia. IEIE. ISBN 5-89665-060-4.
^ March, G. Patrick (1996). Eastern Destiny: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific. Praeger/Greenwood. pp. 152–53. ISBN 0-275-95648-2.
^ "The Great Siberian Iron Road", The Daily News (London), 30 December 1896, p. 7.
^ Davis, Clarence B.; Wilburn, Kenneth E. Jr; Robinson, Ronald E. (1991). "Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Chinese Eastern Railway". Railway Imperialism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0313259661. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
^ Pleshakov, Constantine (2002). The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima. New York: Basic Books. p. 10. ISBN 0465057926. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Irkutsk: Ice-Breaker "Angara"". Lake Baikal Travel Company. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Babanine, Fedor (2003). "Circumbaikal Railway". Lake Baikal Homepage. Fedor Babanine. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
^ "Russia's legendary Trans-Siberian railroad line completely electrified". Associated Press. December 25, 2002. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
^ Manley, Deborah (2011). The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Traveller's Anthology. Andrews UK Limited. p. xviii.
^ Храмков, А. А. (2001). "Железнодорожные перевозки хлеба из Сибири в западном направлении в конце XIX – начале XX вв" [Railroad transportation of bread from Siberia westwards in the late 19th–early 20th centuries]. Предприниматели и предпринимательство в Сибири. Вып.3 [Entrepreneurs and business undertakings in Siberia. 3rd issue]. Barnaul: Изд-во АГУ. ISBN 5-7904-0195-3. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
^ Subtelny, Orest (2000). Ukraine: a history. University of Toronto Press. p. 262. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.
^ Dronin, N. M.; Bellinger, E. G. (2005). Climate dependence and food problems in Russia, 1900–1990: the interaction of climate and agricultural policy and their effect on food problems. Central European University Press. p. 38. ISBN 963-7326-10-3.
^ Christian Wolmar, Blood, iron, and gold: How the railroads transformed the world (Public Affairs, 2011), pp 169–70.
^ Isitt, Benjamin (2006). "Mutiny from Victoria to Vladivostok, December 1918". Canadian Historical Review. 87 (2): 223–64. doi:10.3138/chr/87.2.223. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^ Kšiňan, Michal (2021). Milan Rastislav Štefánik – Muž, ktorý sa rozprával s hviezdami. Slovart. ISBN 9788055639048.
^ Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3, pp. 38–50, 52–102, 104–22, 124–28, 140–48, 184–90
^ Willmott, H.P. (2003). First World War. Dorling Kindersley. p. 251.^{[ISBN missing]}
^ Martin, Bernd (1969), Deutschland und Japan Im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Musterschmidt Verlag, p. 155
^ Lowenstein, Jonathan (April 26, 2010). "The Journey of a Lifetime: my grandmother's escape on the Trans-Siberian railway". Telaviv1.
^ "Jan Zwartendijk. – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum".
^ "German Intelligence Activities in China during WW I." United States War Department Strategic Services Unit, March 1, 1946
^ Martin 1969, p. 174
^ Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord (2001). War Diaries 1939–1945. Phoenix Press. pp. 607, 608. ISBN 1-84212-526-5.
^ Glantz, David M. (1995). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 278. ISBN 0-7006-0899-0.
^ Donahue, Patrick (January 24, 2008). "China-to-Germany Cargo Train Completes Trial Run in 15 Days". Bloomberg.com.
^ Kachi, Hiroyuki (July 20, 2007). "Mitsui talking to Russian railway operator on trans-Siberian freight service". MarketWatch.com.
^ "Trans-Siberian in seven days". Railway Gazette International. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
^ "Chinese, Russian police nab Trans-Siberian 'great train robbers'". October 20, 1993.
^ "In 1993, when a Chinese-Russian train was looted and raped by bandits for several days, the central authorities issued an instruction: cross-border pursuit". December 12, 2021.
^ "Beijing to Hamburg fast cargo rail link planned". The China Post. January 11, 2008. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
^ "Chapter 4: Freight Rates" (PDF). Review of Maritime Transport. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: 89. 2010. ISSN 0566-7682. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
^ "CIS railway timetable, route No. 020, Moscow-Beijing". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.
^ "Yablonovy Range". Farlex, Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2013.

Travel handbooks

Richmond, Simon (2018). Trans-Siberian Railway (6 ed.). London: Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-78657-459-6.
Thomas, Bryn (2014) [1988]. Trans-Siberian Handbook (9 ed.). London: Trailblazer. ISBN 978-1-905864-56-0.

External links

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Trans-Siberian Railway

KML is from Wikidata

Trans-Siberian Railway, National Geographic Expeditions website
Trans-Siberian Railway: a view from Moscow to Vladivostok – a photo essay (27 December 2016), The Guardian. Photographs of "life on board the Trans-Siberian Railway, and beyond the carriage window".
Russian Railways official website
Overview of passenger travel today
"A 1903 map of Trans-Siberian railway".
Guide to the Great Siberian Railway (1900)
Mikhailoff, M. (May 1900). "The Great Siberian Railway" . the North American Review. 170 (522).
Manley, Deborah, ed. (2009). The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Traveller's Anthology. Signal Books. ISBN 978-1-904955-49-8. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012.
Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936), "The Trans-Siberian Express", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 451–57 illustrated description of the route and the train
Trans-Siberian Train № 1 "Russia". Depart Fast Train on YouTube
List of cities (with photos) most visited by tourists traveling along the Trans-Siberian Railway

[1] Russian: Транссибирская магистраль, romanized: Transsibírskaya magistrál, pronounced [trənsːʲɪˈbʲirskəjə məɡʲɪˈstralʲ]

[2] Великий Сибирский Путь, Velíkiy Sibírskiy Put, pronounced [vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj sʲɪˈbʲirʲsʲkʲɪj putʲ]

[3] /ˈtrænsɪb/ TRAN-sib; Транссиб, pronounced [trɐnˈsːʲip]

[4] "Lonely Planet Guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway" (PDF). Lonely Planet Publications. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2012.

[5] Thomas, Bryn; McCrohan, Daniel (2019). Trans-Siberian Handbook: The Guide to the World's Longest Railway Journey with 90 Maps and Guides to the Route, Cities and Towns in Russia, Mongolia and China (10 ed.). Trailblazer Publications. ISBN 978-1912716081. Retrieved October 15, 2020.

[6] Meakin, Annette, A Ribbon of Iron (1901), reprinted in 1970 as part of the Russia Observed series (Arno Press/New York Times)(OCLC 118166).

[Asia-7] "Russia offers a bridge across history to connect Tokyo to the Trans-Siberian railway". siberiantimes.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.

[8] "New 8,400 mile train journey will connect London to Tokyo". The Independent. September 8, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2020.

[MoscowVlad-9] "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on December 3, 2009.

[10] Moscow is at UTC+3, Vladivostok is at UTC+10; therefore the line passes through 8 time zones; see map

[11] "CIS railway timetable, route No. 002, Moscow-Pyongyang". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.

[12] "CIS railway timetable, route No. 350, Kiev-Vladivostok". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.

[britannica-13] "Trans-Siberian Railroad". December 7, 2023.

[14] P. E. Garbutt, "The Trans-Siberian Railway." Journal of Transport History 4 (1954): 238–249.

[problemregions-15] Alexeev, V.V.; Bandman, M.K.; Kuleshov–Novosibirsk, V. V., eds. (2002). Problem Regions of Resource Type: Economical Integration of European North-East, Ural and Siberia. IEIE. ISBN 5-89665-060-4.

[16] March, G. Patrick (1996). Eastern Destiny: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific. Praeger/Greenwood. pp. 152–53. ISBN 0-275-95648-2.

[17] "The Great Siberian Iron Road", The Daily News (London), 30 December 1896, p. 7.

[18] Davis, Clarence B.; Wilburn, Kenneth E. Jr; Robinson, Ronald E. (1991). "Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Chinese Eastern Railway". Railway Imperialism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0313259661. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.

[19] Pleshakov, Constantine (2002). The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima. New York: Basic Books. p. 10. ISBN 0465057926. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019.

[BaikalTravel-20] "Irkutsk: Ice-Breaker "Angara"". Lake Baikal Travel Company. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

[BaikalHomepage-21] Babanine, Fedor (2003). "Circumbaikal Railway". Lake Baikal Homepage. Fedor Babanine. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

[22] "Russia's legendary Trans-Siberian railroad line completely electrified". Associated Press. December 25, 2002. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2015 – via HighBeam Research.

[23] Manley, Deborah (2011). The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Traveller's Anthology. Andrews UK Limited. p. xviii.

[hramkov-24] Храмков, А. А. (2001). "Железнодорожные перевозки хлеба из Сибири в западном направлении в конце XIX – начале XX вв" [Railroad transportation of bread from Siberia westwards in the late 19th–early 20th centuries]. Предприниматели и предпринимательство в Сибири. Вып.3 [Entrepreneurs and business undertakings in Siberia. 3rd issue]. Barnaul: Изд-во АГУ. ISBN 5-7904-0195-3. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 1, 2006.

[25] Subtelny, Orest (2000). Ukraine: a history. University of Toronto Press. p. 262. ISBN 0-8020-8390-0.

[26] Dronin, N. M.; Bellinger, E. G. (2005). Climate dependence and food problems in Russia, 1900–1990: the interaction of climate and agricultural policy and their effect on food problems. Central European University Press. p. 38. ISBN 963-7326-10-3.

[27] Christian Wolmar, Blood, iron, and gold: How the railroads transformed the world (Public Affairs, 2011), pp 169–70.

[Isitt-28] Isitt, Benjamin (2006). "Mutiny from Victoria to Vladivostok, December 1918". Canadian Historical Review. 87 (2): 223–64. doi:10.3138/chr/87.2.223. Retrieved October 3, 2016.

[29] Kšiňan, Michal (2021). Milan Rastislav Štefánik – Muž, ktorý sa rozprával s hviezdami. Slovart. ISBN 9788055639048.

[30] Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3, pp. 38–50, 52–102, 104–22, 124–28, 140–48, 184–90

[WILLMOTT251-31] Willmott, H.P. (2003). First World War. Dorling Kindersley. p. 251.^{[ISBN missing]}

[32] Martin, Bernd (1969), Deutschland und Japan Im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Musterschmidt Verlag, p. 155

[33] Lowenstein, Jonathan (April 26, 2010). "The Journey of a Lifetime: my grandmother's escape on the Trans-Siberian railway". Telaviv1.

[34] "Jan Zwartendijk. – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum".

[35] "German Intelligence Activities in China during WW I." United States War Department Strategic Services Unit, March 1, 1946

[36] Martin 1969, p. 174

[37] Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord (2001). War Diaries 1939–1945. Phoenix Press. pp. 607, 608. ISBN 1-84212-526-5.

[38] Glantz, David M. (1995). When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 278. ISBN 0-7006-0899-0.

[39] Donahue, Patrick (January 24, 2008). "China-to-Germany Cargo Train Completes Trial Run in 15 Days". Bloomberg.com.

[40] Kachi, Hiroyuki (July 20, 2007). "Mitsui talking to Russian railway operator on trans-Siberian freight service". MarketWatch.com.

[41] "Trans-Siberian in seven days". Railway Gazette International. May 5, 2009. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2010.

[42] "Chinese, Russian police nab Trans-Siberian 'great train robbers'". October 20, 1993.

[43] "In 1993, when a Chinese-Russian train was looted and raped by bandits for several days, the central authorities issued an instruction: cross-border pursuit". December 12, 2021.

[44] "Beijing to Hamburg fast cargo rail link planned". The China Post. January 11, 2008. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2012.

[45] "Chapter 4: Freight Rates" (PDF). Review of Maritime Transport. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: 89. 2010. ISSN 0566-7682. Retrieved December 31, 2011.

[46] "CIS railway timetable, route No. 020, Moscow-Beijing". Archived from the original on April 6, 2020.

[Yab-47] "Yablonovy Range". Farlex, Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2013.

[a]

[b]

[c]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

v t e Russian Railways
Russia	Kaliningrad October Moscow Gorky South Eastern North Caucasus Volga Kuybyshev South Urals Northern Sverdlovsk West Siberian Krasnoyarsk East Siberian Trans-Baikal Far Eastern
Abkhazia	Abkhazian
Armenia	South Caucasus

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF GND
National	United States France BnF data Japan Czech Republic Sweden Israel Catalonia
Geographic	Structurae
Other	IdRef Yale LUX

Key Track Specifications	Details
Total Length	9,288.2 km (double-tracked)^[61]
Gauge	1,520 mm^[62]
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz AC (majority); 3 kV DC (western sections)^[63]
Rail Type	Continuous welded rails on concrete sleepers with ballast^[65]
Max Gradient	9‰ (0.9%)
Passenger Speed Limit	100–120 km/h^[67]
Freight Speed Limit	80–90 km/h^[67]

History

Media collections

Trans-Siberian Railway

Recent from talks

Recent from talks

Contribute something

Contribute something

Media Pages

Timelines

Articles

Notes collections

Notes

Notes

Days in Chronicle

Trans-Siberian Railway

Route

History

Demand and design

Construction

Effects

War and revolution

World War II

Post World War II

Crime

Developments in shipping

Gallery

Routes

Trans-Siberian line

Trans-Manchurian line

Trans-Mongolian line

Highest point

See also

Notes

References

Travel handbooks

Further reading

External links