East Siberian Railway
Encyclopedia
The East Siberian Railway is a railway in Russia (a branch of the Russian Railways
and a part of the Trans-Siberian Railway
), which runs across Irkutsk Oblast
, Chita Oblast
, Buryatia, and Yakutia. The railway administration is located in Irkutsk
. The East Siberian Railway borders with the Krasnoyarsk Railway
(railway station of Yurty
), Trans-Baikal Railway
(railway station of Petrovsky Zavod), and Baikal Amur Mainline (railway station of Lena-Vostochnaya). To the south, the East Siberian Railway runs close to the Russo-Mongolia
n border (railway station of Naushki
). As of 2008, the total working length of the East Siberian Railway was 3848.1 km (2,391.1 mi); number of employees – 46,233 (61,418 in 2005); net weight hauled – 76 mln tonne
s (75.934 mln in 2005); long-distance passenger traffic – 3.6 mln people (4.838 mln in 2005); suburban traffic – 29 mln people (26.225 mln in 2005). Annual cargo turnover is 278 mln tonnes.
The East Siberian Railway consists of four divisions, namely the Irkutsk Railway Division, Severobaikalsk Railway Division, Taishet Railway Division, and Ulan-Ude Railway Division. The railway connects the regions of East Siberia, Transbaikal
, and Russian Far East
with the rest of the railroad network nationwide. The East Siberian Railway services major industrial areas of iron ore and coal mining
, oil refining, logging
and wood processing
, companies and factories in energy, chemical, machine building and machine-tool industries, nonferrous metallurgy, etc. In addition, the railway services agricultural grain
-producing and kettle
-breeding regions. The biggest points of cargo departure and arrival are Cheremkhovo
, Korshunikha, Kitoy-Kombinatskaya, Sukhovskaya, Irkutsk-Sortirovochniy, Ulan-Ude
, Lena, and Bratsk
.
to Tyumen
in 1884. In 1887, they organized three expeditions to explore the route for the future Trans-Siberian Railway. In May 1893, a committee on the construction of the Siberian railway has been created. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was launched simultaneously from two directions, namely Vladivostok
and Chelyabinsk
. By 1895, the construction of the railway section from Chelyabinsk to the railway station of Ob near a small settlement of Novonikolaevsky (today's Novosibirsk
) had been over. On December 6, 1895, the first train arrived in Krasnoyarsk
, which would become a starting point for the construction of the East Siberian Railway towards Irkutsk and through Nizhneudinsk
(the first train arrived on December 9, 1897) towards Tulun
. In 1897, the construction of the Irkutsk - Baikalsky and Mysovaya – Sretensk
sections was underway. They built railway stations almost along the whole railway. In 1898, they finished the construction of the Tulun-Irkutsk section. In 1900, they completed the Transbaikal section from Mysovaya to Sretensk and from Irkutsk to the Baikal railway station. They had been building the Circum-Baikal section
(between railway stations Mysovaya and Baikal) of the East Siberian Railway until 1905, opening non-stop train traffic along the whole railway when construction ended.
At first, the East Siberian Railway was a single-track railroad
. In 1907, they began the construction of the second track, which would end in 1916. Administratively, the mainline was divided into four railways: the Siberian Railway (from Chelyabinsk to Innokentyevskaya railway station with a line towards Tomsk
), Transbaikal Railway (from Innokentyevskaya railway station to Sretensk with a line towards Manchuria railway station), Ussuri Railway (from Vladivostok to Khabarovsk
), and Amur Railway
(from Kuyenga railway station to Khabarovsk). In 1915, the East Siberian Railway was divided into five railways: Omsk Railway, Tomsk Railway, Transbaikal Railway, Amur Railway, and Ussuri Railway. In 1934, the East Siberian Railway became an independent administrative and economic unit with its borders from Mariinsk
railway station to Mysovaya railway station. In 1936, the Krasnoyarsk Railway
was excluded from the East Siberian Railway. In 1920s-1930s, they carried out technical reconstruction of the railway and upgraded its locomotive
and rolling stock
. They also built several new lines over the ridges of Sayany
, Alatau
, taiga
, and swamps towards coal and iron ore deposits, woodlands, and banks of large rivers. In 1922-1926, they constructed the Achinsk
–Abakan
line, which connected the southern areas of Krasnoyarsk Krai
, Khakassia
, and Tuva
and with other economic regions of the country. In 1940, they opened train traffic from Ulan-Ude to Naushki, significantly improving economic relations with Mongolia
and providing access to the Gusinoozyorsk
coal deposits.
During the Great Patriotic War, the authorities of the East Siberian Railway provided volunteer units to be dispatched to the front (20 railmen would be awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union
), found resources for repairing military equipment, prepared rolling stock, and gradually increased the amount of freight from Siberia to the European part of the country.
In the postwar years, the transportation rate continued its increase along with the reconstruction of transportation facilities and introduction of new technology. In 1948, the East Siberian Railway reached its pre-war loading and cargo-turnover level. In 1958, they commissioned the new Taishet-Bratsk-Lena railway, which connected the basins of the Angara
and Lena River
s with the rest of the Siberian railroad network, providing immediate access to mineral deposits in the Angara basin (e.g., Korshunovskoye iron ore deposit) and abundant logging regions and uninterrupted supply of cargo to the northern areas of Irkutsk Oblast and Yakutia. In the end of 1965, they commissioned a 647 km (402 mi) long Abakan-Taishet section of the East Siberian Railway, an electrified high-class railroad with modern means of communication, electric interlocking
of railroad switch
es, and remote dispatching system. This section of the railway provided a new access to Kuzbass, Kazakhstan
, and Central Asia
from the regions of the Russian Far East
and Siberia. In the early 1970s, they finished the construction of the northbound line from the Khrebtovaya railway station to Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Powerplant (214 km (133 mi)).
metals, petroleum products, grain shipments, products of light
, food
, chemical
, and machine-building industries. Imported goods usually consist of metals, construction materials, petroleum products, products of machine building, light and food industry, partially grain shipments. Export consists of timber
, oil, iron ore, aluminum, and coal. Locally, the railway mostly transports construction goods, coal, timber, petroleum, and agricultural produce. The East Siberian Railway was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1976.
During the construction of several sections of the East Siberian Railway, they widely used various scientific and technical achievements. The railway essentially became a test site for alternating current
electrification. They tested and perfected the design of alternating current locomotives
, overhead catenary system, means of communication, signaling
, centralized traffic control, and automatic block system, all of which would later be introduced on other railways in one way or another. 97% of traffic along the East Siberian Railway is done by means of electric traction.
The East Siberan Railway consists of several sections, one of which is the Circum-Baikal Railway
– a monument of the industrial architecture of federal importance. It stretches for over 85 km (52.8 mi) from the Baikal railway station to the Kultuka railway station. The uniqueness of this wonder of engineering is that no other railway in the world has as many man-made objects, namely 40 tunnel
s, 16 avalanche
galleries, 470 overpasses, bridges, and pipe culverts, some 280 protecting walls, let alone various buildings at different railway stations. The Circum-Baikal Railway is also known as the "golden buckle of the steel belt" (Trans-Siberian Railway being the "steel belt") because the construction of the greatest Russian railway was finished on the shores of the Lake Baikal
.
In December 2003, they commissioned the Severomuysky Tunnel
on the Baikal Amur Mainline (a section of the East Siberian Railway), the biggest tunnel in Russia and the fifth longest in the world (15343 m (9.5 mi)).
The station building at the Slyudyanka railway station of the East Siberian Railway is the only railway station in the world made completely of marble
.
Russian Railways
The Russian Railways , is the government owned national rail carrier of the Russian Federation, headquartered in Moscow. The Russian Railways operate over of common carrier routes as well as a few hundred kilometers of industrial routes, making it the second largest network in the world exceeded...
and a part of the Trans-Siberian Railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
), which runs across Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. Population: -History:...
, Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast
Chita Oblast was a federal subject of Russia in southeast Siberia, Russia. Its administrative center was the city of Chita. It had extensive international borders with China and Mongolia and internal borders with Irkutsk and Amur Oblasts, as well as with the Buryat and the Sakha Republics. Its...
, Buryatia, and Yakutia. The railway administration is located in Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
. The East Siberian Railway borders with the Krasnoyarsk Railway
Krasnoyarsk Railway
The Krasnoyarsk Railway is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Krasnoyarsk and serving the south of Siberia. Its mainline is a link in the Trans-Siberian Railway crossing the Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khakassia. It is wedged between the West Siberian Railway and East Siberian Railway...
(railway station of Yurty
Yurty
Yurty is an urban locality in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Population:...
), Trans-Baikal Railway
Trans-Baikal Railway
The Trans-Baikal Railway is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Chita and serving Zabaykalsky Krai and Amur Oblast. The mainline was built between 1895 and 1905 as part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. It bordered the Circum-Baikal Railway on the west and the Chinese Eastern...
(railway station of Petrovsky Zavod), and Baikal Amur Mainline (railway station of Lena-Vostochnaya). To the south, the East Siberian Railway runs close to the Russo-Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
n border (railway station of Naushki
Naushki
Naushki is an urban locality in Kyakhtinsky District of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located near the border with Mongolia, from the town of Kyakhta. Population:...
). As of 2008, the total working length of the East Siberian Railway was 3848.1 km (2,391.1 mi); number of employees – 46,233 (61,418 in 2005); net weight hauled – 76 mln tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s (75.934 mln in 2005); long-distance passenger traffic – 3.6 mln people (4.838 mln in 2005); suburban traffic – 29 mln people (26.225 mln in 2005). Annual cargo turnover is 278 mln tonnes.
The East Siberian Railway consists of four divisions, namely the Irkutsk Railway Division, Severobaikalsk Railway Division, Taishet Railway Division, and Ulan-Ude Railway Division. The railway connects the regions of East Siberia, Transbaikal
Transbaikal
Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia , or Dauria is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" Lake Baikal in Russia. The alternative name, Dauria, is derived from the ethnonym of the Daur people. It stretches for almost 1000 km from north to south from the Patomskoye Plateau and North...
, and Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
with the rest of the railroad network nationwide. The East Siberian Railway services major industrial areas of iron ore and coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
, oil refining, logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and wood processing
Wood processing
Wood processing is an engineering discipline comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil...
, companies and factories in energy, chemical, machine building and machine-tool industries, nonferrous metallurgy, etc. In addition, the railway services agricultural grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
-producing and kettle
Kettle
A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a small kitchen appliance used for boiling water. Kettles can be heated either by placing on a stove, or by their own electric heating element.- Stovetop kettles :...
-breeding regions. The biggest points of cargo departure and arrival are Cheremkhovo
Cheremkhovo
Cheremkhovo is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Population: It was founded in 1772. It is one of the coal-mining towns in the Irkutsk coal basin.-References:*Transsib.ru....
, Korshunikha, Kitoy-Kombinatskaya, Sukhovskaya, Irkutsk-Sortirovochniy, Ulan-Ude
Ulan-Ude
Ulan-Ude is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence with the Selenga...
, Lena, and Bratsk
Bratsk
Bratsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Population: Although the name sounds like the Russian word for 'brother' , it actually comes from 'bratskiye lyudi', an old name for the Buryats.-History:The first Europeans in the area arrived...
.
Construction history
The idea of building a railway across scarsely populated and almost unexplored areas of East Siberia was first expressed in the 1870s-1880s. The need for constructing a railway line became particularly evident after the completion of the Ural Railway from YekaterinburgYekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
to Tyumen
Tyumen
Tyumen is the largest city and the administrative center of Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located on the Tura River east of Moscow. Population: Tyumen is the oldest Russian settlement in Siberia. Founded in 16th century to support Russia's eastward expansion, the city has remained one of the most...
in 1884. In 1887, they organized three expeditions to explore the route for the future Trans-Siberian Railway. In May 1893, a committee on the construction of the Siberian railway has been created. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was launched simultaneously from two directions, namely Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
and Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
. By 1895, the construction of the railway section from Chelyabinsk to the railway station of Ob near a small settlement of Novonikolaevsky (today's Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
) had been over. On December 6, 1895, the first train arrived in Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...
, which would become a starting point for the construction of the East Siberian Railway towards Irkutsk and through Nizhneudinsk
Nizhneudinsk
Nizhneudinsk is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Uda River , northwest of Irkutsk. It stands on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and is served by a small airport, ICAO code UINN. Population: 39,700 ....
(the first train arrived on December 9, 1897) towards Tulun
Tulun
Tulun is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Iya River , northwest of Irkutsk. It serves as the administrative center of Tulunsky District, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population: -History:...
. In 1897, the construction of the Irkutsk - Baikalsky and Mysovaya – Sretensk
Sretensk
Sretensk is a town and the administrative center of Sretensky District of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Shilka River , east of Chita.Population: It was founded in 1689 and granted town status in 1926....
sections was underway. They built railway stations almost along the whole railway. In 1898, they finished the construction of the Tulun-Irkutsk section. In 1900, they completed the Transbaikal section from Mysovaya to Sretensk and from Irkutsk to the Baikal railway station. They had been building the Circum-Baikal section
Circum-Baikal Railway
The Circum-Baikal Railway is a historical railway in Irkutsk region of Russia. It runs along the Northern shore of the Southern extremity of the lake from the town of Slyudyanka to the Baikal settlement. Until the middle of the 20th century Circum-Baikal railway was part of the main line of...
(between railway stations Mysovaya and Baikal) of the East Siberian Railway until 1905, opening non-stop train traffic along the whole railway when construction ended.
At first, the East Siberian Railway was a single-track railroad
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....
. In 1907, they began the construction of the second track, which would end in 1916. Administratively, the mainline was divided into four railways: the Siberian Railway (from Chelyabinsk to Innokentyevskaya railway station with a line towards Tomsk
Tomsk
Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...
), Transbaikal Railway (from Innokentyevskaya railway station to Sretensk with a line towards Manchuria railway station), Ussuri Railway (from Vladivostok to Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk
Khabarovsk is the largest city and the administrative center of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. It is located some from the Chinese border. It is the second largest city in the Russian Far East, after Vladivostok. The city became the administrative center of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia...
), and Amur Railway
Amur Railway
The broad gauge Amur Railway is the last section of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia, built in 1906-1916. The construction of this railway favored the development of gold mining industry, logging, fishery, and fur trade in Siberia and Russian Far East. It is over 2115 km in length, stretching...
(from Kuyenga railway station to Khabarovsk). In 1915, the East Siberian Railway was divided into five railways: Omsk Railway, Tomsk Railway, Transbaikal Railway, Amur Railway, and Ussuri Railway. In 1934, the East Siberian Railway became an independent administrative and economic unit with its borders from Mariinsk
Mariinsk
Mariinsk is a town in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Kiya River northeast of Kemerovo. Population: 39,700 .It was founded in the 18th century as the village of Kiyskoye . In 1856, it was granted town status and renamed Mariinsk after Empress Maria, consort of Alexander II, one...
railway station to Mysovaya railway station. In 1936, the Krasnoyarsk Railway
Krasnoyarsk Railway
The Krasnoyarsk Railway is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Krasnoyarsk and serving the south of Siberia. Its mainline is a link in the Trans-Siberian Railway crossing the Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khakassia. It is wedged between the West Siberian Railway and East Siberian Railway...
was excluded from the East Siberian Railway. In 1920s-1930s, they carried out technical reconstruction of the railway and upgraded its locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
and rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
. They also built several new lines over the ridges of Sayany
Sayan Mountains
The Sayan Mountains are a mountain range between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia, Russia.The Eastern Sayan extends from the Yenisei River at 92° E to the southwest end of Lake Baikal at 106° E...
, Alatau
Alatau
Alatau or Ala-Too is a generic name for a number of mountain ranges in Central Asia, characterized by interleaving areas of vegetation, scattered rocks and snows.The Alatau Mountains are located in the North East of Kazakhstan...
, taiga
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
, and swamps towards coal and iron ore deposits, woodlands, and banks of large rivers. In 1922-1926, they constructed the Achinsk
Achinsk
Achinsk is a city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the right bank of the Chulym River near its intersection with the Trans-Siberian Railway, west of Krasnoyarsk. Area: . Population:...
–Abakan
Abakan
Abakan is the capital city of the Republic of Khakassia, Russia, located in the central part of Minusinsk Depression, at the confluence of the Yenisei and Abakan Rivers. Population: -History:...
line, which connected the southern areas of Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia . It is the second largest federal subject after the Sakha Republic, and Russia's largest krai, occupying an area of , which is 13% of the country's total territory. The administrative center of the krai is the city of Krasnoyarsk...
, Khakassia
Khakassia
The Republic of Khakassia or Khakasiya is a federal subject of Russia located in south-central Siberia. Its capital city is Abakan, which is also the largest city in the republic...
, and Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
and with other economic regions of the country. In 1940, they opened train traffic from Ulan-Ude to Naushki, significantly improving economic relations with Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
and providing access to the Gusinoozyorsk
Gusinoozyorsk
Gusinoozyorsk is a town and the administrative center of Selenginsky District of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located on the northeastern shore of Lake Gusinoye, southwest of Ulan-Ude. Population: 13,800 .-History:...
coal deposits.
During the Great Patriotic War, the authorities of the East Siberian Railway provided volunteer units to be dispatched to the front (20 railmen would be awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
), found resources for repairing military equipment, prepared rolling stock, and gradually increased the amount of freight from Siberia to the European part of the country.
In the postwar years, the transportation rate continued its increase along with the reconstruction of transportation facilities and introduction of new technology. In 1948, the East Siberian Railway reached its pre-war loading and cargo-turnover level. In 1958, they commissioned the new Taishet-Bratsk-Lena railway, which connected the basins of the Angara
Angara River
The Angara River is a long river in Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai, south-east Siberia, Russia. It is the only river flowing out of Lake Baikal, and is the headwater tributary of the Yenisei River....
and Lena River
Lena River
The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...
s with the rest of the Siberian railroad network, providing immediate access to mineral deposits in the Angara basin (e.g., Korshunovskoye iron ore deposit) and abundant logging regions and uninterrupted supply of cargo to the northern areas of Irkutsk Oblast and Yakutia. In the end of 1965, they commissioned a 647 km (402 mi) long Abakan-Taishet section of the East Siberian Railway, an electrified high-class railroad with modern means of communication, electric interlocking
Interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively referred to as an interlocking plant...
of railroad switch
Railroad switch
A railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
es, and remote dispatching system. This section of the railway provided a new access to Kuzbass, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
from the regions of the Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
and Siberia. In the early 1970s, they finished the construction of the northbound line from the Khrebtovaya railway station to Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Powerplant (214 km (133 mi)).
Cargo types
As far as transit cargo is concerned, the largest share falls on ferrousFerrous
Ferrous , in chemistry, indicates a divalent iron compound , as opposed to ferric, which indicates a trivalent iron compound ....
metals, petroleum products, grain shipments, products of light
Light industry
Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...
, food
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
, chemical
Chemical industry
The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...
, and machine-building industries. Imported goods usually consist of metals, construction materials, petroleum products, products of machine building, light and food industry, partially grain shipments. Export consists of timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, oil, iron ore, aluminum, and coal. Locally, the railway mostly transports construction goods, coal, timber, petroleum, and agricultural produce. The East Siberian Railway was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1976.
Engineering
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
electrification. They tested and perfected the design of alternating current locomotives
Electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
, overhead catenary system, means of communication, signaling
Railway signal
A signal is a mechanical or electrical device erected beside a railway line to pass information relating to the state of the line ahead to train/engine drivers. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly...
, centralized traffic control, and automatic block system, all of which would later be introduced on other railways in one way or another. 97% of traffic along the East Siberian Railway is done by means of electric traction.
The East Siberan Railway consists of several sections, one of which is the Circum-Baikal Railway
Circum-Baikal Railway
The Circum-Baikal Railway is a historical railway in Irkutsk region of Russia. It runs along the Northern shore of the Southern extremity of the lake from the town of Slyudyanka to the Baikal settlement. Until the middle of the 20th century Circum-Baikal railway was part of the main line of...
– a monument of the industrial architecture of federal importance. It stretches for over 85 km (52.8 mi) from the Baikal railway station to the Kultuka railway station. The uniqueness of this wonder of engineering is that no other railway in the world has as many man-made objects, namely 40 tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s, 16 avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
galleries, 470 overpasses, bridges, and pipe culverts, some 280 protecting walls, let alone various buildings at different railway stations. The Circum-Baikal Railway is also known as the "golden buckle of the steel belt" (Trans-Siberian Railway being the "steel belt") because the construction of the greatest Russian railway was finished on the shores of the Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...
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In December 2003, they commissioned the Severomuysky Tunnel
Severomuysky Tunnel
Severomuysky Tunnel is a railroad tunnel on the Baikal Amur Mainline , in northwestern Buryatia, Russia. It is named after the Severomuysky Range it cuts through....
on the Baikal Amur Mainline (a section of the East Siberian Railway), the biggest tunnel in Russia and the fifth longest in the world (15343 m (9.5 mi)).
The station building at the Slyudyanka railway station of the East Siberian Railway is the only railway station in the world made completely of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
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