The Russian Railways ( , ), is the government owned national rail carrier of the Russian Federation, headquartered in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. The Russian Railways operate over 86000 km (53,438.1 mi) of common carrier routes as well as a few hundred kilometers of industrial routes, making it the second largest network in the world exceeded only by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The Railways also are one of the largest companies in the world employing 950,000 people and is also a monopoly within Russia.

The Russian Railways were created in 1992, to take over existing lines within Russia from the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

.
The Soviet Railways ended operations in December 1991, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union.