The first proper railway in Russia was built under Melnikov’s direction, starting in 1842, between Moscow and St Petersburg, and used the expertise of Whistler. In 1850, an ‘Arrangement Committee’ formed to oversee the construction of this railway decreed the use of 1524 mm gauge, not only for this railway but for all subsequent railway construction in Russia.
By 1855, some 900 km of 1524 mm gauge railways had been completed, a figure that was to jump to 23 000 km by 1880. Further lines linking key ports and towns continued to be built in the closing years of the 19th century, but it was the building of the Trans-Siberian Railway between Moscow and Vladivostok, finally completed in 1916 and stretching a distance of over 9000 km, that finally connected east and west Russia.
Part of this Railway actually ran through China (the Liaodong Peninsula, and which Russia had rights to at the time), which was a shorter route than going round the Peninsula, and was completed some ten years or more before the longer route around the Peninsula, which was entirely within Russia. This story, including its gauge issues, will be told in Part 5, China.
The Russian Revolution in 1917, followed by the civil war in 1918, led to the creation of what became known as the USSR in 1922. During these intervening five years, Russia invaded and occupied all of the satellite states around its periphery, such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which is why of course all these satellite nations followed Russian practice in terms of the gauge of their railways (and indeed most of the other railway standards involved). Many of the railways in these nations actually became part of the USSR’s main network, such as the Turkestan to Siberia Railway, which ran through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and was completed in the late 1920s.
Russia did briefly experience a short time when its railways started to be converted to 1435 mm gauge. As told under the Chapter ‘Gauges and the World at War’, in Part 1, Hitler, in what is now the Russian Federation, had converted around 700 km from the Polish border to Smolensk to Standard gauge. Once World War II had ended, this line and some associated freight yards were quickly converted back to Russian gauge, where they have remained since.
But that could change. As will be told in more detail in Part 5 of this book series, China is planning a link (understood to be to Standard gauge, but not confirmed) between Beijing and Europe, one route of which runs through 1520 mm gauge Russia. Over 7000 km long, running through Kazakhstan, and costing US$242 billion, it would reduce the current journey time of five days down to 30 hours for passengers, with similar reductions for freight. A memorandum of understanding has been signed, so it looks like this will go ahead.
Main-line railways:
Today, Russia has about 85 000 km of main-line railways, down from a total of over 140 000 km when it was part of the USSR. Not all of the decline is due to the geographically smaller country that Russia currently is, compared to the old USSR. A significant part of the decline can be attributed to the depressed economic times following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, together with the lack of any policy encouraging freight to be shipped by rail, resulting in a much larger percentage of freight now going by road than previously, and the consequential closure of a number of secondary lines. Having said that, over 75% of freight movement still goes by rail, the highest in the world.
One thing that Russia has done, however, and that is to electrify most of its major freight-carrying lines, including the Trans-Siberian Railway – an amazing feat considering the huge distances, the utter remoteness of so much of these distances, and the often inhospitable climate. It is estimated that 85% of freight shipped on Russian railways is on electrified lines.
Russia also has not ignored the quest for speed. It has upgraded an existing line between Moscow and St Petersburg to 250 km/h (albeit at the expense of existing slower services which share the same tracks, and which often get sidelined when a high speed train is due). The service is known as the Sapsan, and its Siemens Velaro trains are larger versions of the ICE in Germany.
Russia is also conducting studies into a new proper high speed line between these two cities, likely parallel to the existing one, but fully grade-separated, that would be rated for up to 400 km/h. 400 km/h lines between Moscow and other Russian cities are also being considered. Unlike high speed lines in other countries (such as Spain and Japan), which are built to Standard gauge, even when their ‘legacy’ networks use another gauge, Russia’s high speed lines will be to 1520 mm gauge.
Finally, Russia is also planning new stretches of 1520 mm gauge line that will bypass Ukraine, the direct result of the current conflicts between the two countries, and which result in delays as trains, both passenger and freight, transiting through eastern Ukraine are subjected to lengthy scrutiny.
Narrow gauge:
With a country as large as Russia, it seems almost absurd to imagine that there were any narrow gauge railways. But in fact there was a massive conglomeration of 750 mm gauge railways spread throughout the country, with an astonishing cumulative route network at its peak in the late 1960s of around 100 000 km!
These lines were built for very many purposes, but a large percentage was used to transport peat from remote peat-fields to the large number of electrical power stations built to support Russia’s huge electrification program.
Other uses included transporting timber from forests, ores from mines, and shipping sugar to refineries in the Ukraine. Most, though far from all, are now closed.
There is also one other incongruity in terms of narrow gauge railways in Russia. At the end of World War II, the island of Sakhalin, just off the east coast of Russia and north of Japan, was returned to Russia, after having been under Japanese rule until then. And Japan had built a railway on the island – naturally to the prevailing Japanese gauge of 1067 mm. Russia ran this railway for very many years at this gauge before converting it to 1520 mm gauge. The conversion was actually effected by gradually replacing sections of the original single narrow gauge track with dual gauge (1067/1520 mm) trackwork. Conversion was completed in 2012, at which time the narrow gauge rail was removed.
Metro and trams:
In a country as large as Russia, where do we start? As I suggested in the Chapter on Eastern Europe, public transport has always played a much larger part in the lives of those nations like Russia whose citizens had car ownership denied to them until relatively recently. For example, St Petersburg – not a particularly large city by world standards, with a population of just under 5 million – once had the world’s largest tram network, losing that record only recently to Melbourne.
Most metros and light rail systems in Russia, as well as tram systems, use the same nominal gauge as the main-line railways. I say ‘nominal’ for a particular reason. While the metros generally are to 1520 mm gauge, the trams, at an actual 1524 mm gauge, have not made that 4 mm adjustment that the trains have. Which is of course understandable – it would mean ripping up thousands of kilometres of street trackage! And all for a measly 4 mm!
So, you may ask, if trams themselves were gauged to 1520 mm, why can’t they travel on 1524 mm gauge tracks? As explained in Part 1, Wheels and Rails, tram track tolerances are much tighter when you have smaller-flanged tram wheels running on grooved tram tracks, which means that trams cannot easily accommodate the 4 mm difference if their wheels were re-gauged to 1520 mm. The tram systems in all Russian cities will therefore likely stick with 1524 mm (other than those of course which currently use a different gauge altogether – which a few do, and which will be mentioned below).
There are over 60 tram systems currently operating in Russia (down from over 100 at their peak in the 1960s), and it is really quite impossible to even begin to list them all, let alone actually describe them, even briefly (but it would perhaps make a good book on its own!). So I will concentrate on just a few of the major networks in the largest cities. I mentioned St Petersburg above, so that is as good a place as any to start.
St Petersburg’s original horse-drawn tramway system was narrow gauge (whether th
at means narrow compared to 1524 mm gauge, or narrow compared to Standard gauge, is not known), but it was eventually superseded by an electric system in 1907. In that year, the first 1524 mm gauge trams started operations in St Petersburg’s streets, so there was obviously a conscious decision that trams should adopt the same gauge as their main-line brethren.
Today, St Petersburg (renamed for a while as Leningrad when Russia was under Soviet rule) has around 220 km of street trackage (down from 340 km at its peak prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union), spread out over 38 lines. Some lines in the city centre have been removed, replaced by the underground metro.
As regards the metro, the five-line underground metro system in St Petersburg was opened in 1955, and amounts to 110 km. Rivalling that in Pyongyang, North Korea, as regards depth, it certainly is one of the deepest in the world (over 100 m below ground at some points – but see Moscow below), and is also regarded as having some of the most beautiful stations in the world – surpassing even those of the Moscow underground. It uses the main-line standard of 1520 mm gauge.
The Moscow underground is of course famous for the beauty and grandeur of its stations. Over three times as long as that in St Petersburg, Moscow’s metro comprises over 300 km of route distance with twelve lines serving 186 stations, almost all underground. One of the most intensely used systems in the world, it too uses the main-line standard of 1520 mm gauge. Originally opened in 1935, new lines are being planned or are in course of construction.
There is – apparently – a secret underground system in Moscow that parallels the public one, known as Metro-2, and used by the Russian Federal Security Service (but built originally by the KGB). This system is supposedly twice the length of the public metro, and has parts that are 200 m deep, twice that of St Petersburg’s system, and which easily makes it the deepest metro in the world. Naturally it is not accessible to the public, and is not even officially acknowledged to exist. Presumably it is to the same gauge as the public metro.
As well as the underground, Moscow can boast a substantial tram system, the fourth largest in the world in fact, and, like most other tram systems in Russia, it is to 1524 mm gauge. Also like St Petersburg, many tram lines no longer reach the city centre.
Volgograd (what used to be known as Stalingrad during the era of the USSR) does things slightly differently. It has what are basically trams (see picture below), but they operate more on the lines of a metro, with underground sections within the city, and private right-of-way running above ground, with relatively widely-spaced stations. Unlike most underground metros however, current collection is overhead by pantograph instead of the more usual third rail. Like trams (if in fact that is what they are), but unlike metros in other Russian cities, these vehicles are to 1524 mm gauge.
Many Russian tram systems are as much light rail as true trams – they operate on a mix of street running and their own right-of-way, although the vehicles are more tram than true light rail. In fact, many of these older vehicles have a vague similarity (especially in terms of their bogies and other running gear) to PCC streetcars once found extensively in North America and many other places. Newer trams are much more European.
I mentioned earlier that not all Russian trams or metros operate on 1520/1524 mm gauge. Five tram systems run on metre-gauge tracks – Kaliningrad (used to be 1435 mm gauge before being converted), Molochne, Vinnytsia (most trams are ex-Zurich), Yevpatoria, and Pyatigorsk. The system in Yevpatoria is currently receiving new 20.5-m long double articulated units.
Finally, there is just one tram system in Russia that operates on 1435 mm Standard gauge – that in Rostov-on-Don (which is in the process of getting a new metro, also to Standard gauge). Unfortunately no-one thought to record the reasons why the builders in that city chose a gauge different from everywhere else in the whole of the old Soviet Union (even if it was Standard gauge). It will likely remain one of the relatively few examples of Standard gauge rails in ‘Area 1520’ (at least for the moment…).
ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA
I can group these former Soviet states under one heading, as their histories are interconnected, they are geographically connected to each other on the west side of the Caspian Sea, and they are all in similar, and rather less than stellar, situations today.
As briefly noted under Turkey (see Part 2), there used to be a railway running from Kars, now in Turkey, through Gyumri in Armenia to Tbilisi in Georgia. This railway was 1520 mm gauge throughout, until Turkey re-gauged its section from Kars to the border with Armenia once this region reverted to Turkey.
With the border with Armenia now closed, a new line 100 km long has been completed, from Kars to Arhalkalaki in Georgia, thus bypassing Armenia.
Meanwhile the 800 km of existing line from Arhalkalaki to Baku is being reconstructed. It will go initially as far as Tbilisi, and then will finally extend to the port of Baku, in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea.
The 100 km of new line running from Kars in Turkey into Georgia as far as Arhalkalaki (see map below), will, intriguingly, be to 1435 mm Standard gauge (including the 30 km within 1520 territory). There are reports that this Standard gauge line might even be extended to go through Georgia and reach Azerbaijan. Meanwhile the reconstructed line will remain on 1520 mm gauge as part of ‘Area 1520’. The current break of gauge at Arhalkalaki will mean bogie changing, or other break of gauge measures.
Armenia:
Today, Armenia has a rail link only with Georgia, the links with Turkey and Azerbaijan remaining closed. There are currently trains running in the country, on 1520 mm gauge tracks, but the system is suffering from lack of maintenance and overall deterioration – rumours abound that it may even close in the not too distant future.
Interestingly, the 12-km long tram system in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan was built to 1435 mm Standard gauge before being shut down a few years ago, another of the few examples of this gauge ‘transgressing’ into ‘Area 1520’. But the metro in Yerevan is built to 1524 mm gauge (and not the main-line standard of 1520 mm).
Azerbaijan:
In Azerbaijan, the first main line connected Baku with Tbilisi, in Georgia, in 1878. With Azerbaijan part of the old Russian Empire, it was built to Russian gauge, and was later adjusted to 1520 mm. It remains to be seen if the proposed 1435 mm gauge line from Arhalkalaki in Georgia will enter Azerbaijan, and how far into the country it will reach if it does.
As regards a metro, Azerbaijan, like Georgia, has just one system, in Baku, and it too is shown to be to 1524 mm gauge, while a funicular in the same city is also to the same gauge. A tram system used to operate in Baku, but it closed in 2004. It is not known what gauge this system used – but old pictures show something a bit wider than Standard gauge, so presumably 1524 mm.
Georgia:
Georgia’s 1520 mm gauge railways appear to be in better shape than both Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s, and currently can boast some new trains. The total length amounts to some 1400 km, virtually all of it electrified. It is not yet known as to what extent Georgia will be ‘invaded’ by 1435 mm gauge rails, as part of the proposed new railway to Baku in Azerbaijan (see above).
There is also a narrow gauge line. Some reports say it is to 914 mm gauge, while others say 900 mm (it was originally operated by steam locomotives sourced from Britain, so possibly its gauged was changed at some point). It runs between Borjomi and Bakuriani, and is primarily used by tourists and skiers.
The only metro in Georgia is the two-line system in Tbilisi. It is shown to be 1524 mm gauge – which means it never got adjusted to 1520 mm gauge as most metro systems did in other ‘Area 1520’ countries. There is one narrow gauge train in Georgia – the 2-km long line in the Novy Afon (New Athos) caves. It is to 914 mm gauge – an unusual gauge in this part of the world. Its latest trains are driverless.
MOLDOVA
Moldova has a modest railway network, all of it currently to 1520 mm gauge (1524 mm before the USSR adjusted its gauge to 1520 mm).
However,
Moldova’s railways, in terms of what gauge they use, did not develop in such a seamless fashion. The first railways in this territory, built in 1871, were indeed constructed to the Russian gauge of 1524 mm. But it was not to last.
After World War I, Moldova became part of Romania, and in the 1920s its railways were consequently converted to 1435 mm Standard gauge. That however only lasted for little more than twenty years. After World War II, Moldova separated from Romania and became part of the Soviet empire – and its railways were converted back to 1524 mm gauge! It’s just as well that there were only around 1000 km of lines involved. Even so, that was still a major undertaking – twice!
Today, a busy schedule is operated on 1200 km of route distance, almost all of it single track. A significant number of through trains connect with many cities in the Ukraine and in Russia, including Kiev, Moscow and St Petersburg. There is also a connection with the country’s former partner, Romania, where there is a break of gauge, involving bogie changing equipment in order that through trains can run on Romania’s 1435 mm gauge tracks. I should add that there are 14 km of Standard gauge track in Moldova to facilitate the break of gauge.
UKRAINE
The first railways in what is now the western half of Ukraine were built when this region was under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, even while the eastern half was under the control of the Russian Empire. So, with what were very different and competing influences in the country, to what gauge were Ukraine’s first railways built? My best research, in libraries and on the Internet, has failed to yield a definitive answer to this question, although as the first Ukraine railway line was built as an extension from the railway line ending at Kraków, in what is now Poland, it was likely built to 1435 mm Standard gauge.
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