Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad
Encyclopedia
Russian gauge
In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
located in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast
Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...
(Karelian Isthmus
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus is the approximately 45–110 km wide stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva . Its northwestern boundary is the relatively narrow area between the Bay of Vyborg and Lake Ladoga...
) and Republic of Karelia
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas...
, which links Finlyandsky Rail Terminal to Hiitola through Devyatkino
Devyatkino
Devyatkino is a station of the Saint Petersburg Metro and St. Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railway. It is the only Metro station located outside the city limits, in Leningrad Oblast....
, Vaskelovo
Vaskelovo
Vaskelovo is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, and an important station of the Saint Petersburg-Hiitola railroad, being the final destination of many suburban electric passenger trains from Finlyandsky Rail Terminal and Devyatkino....
, Sosnovo
Sosnovo, Leningrad Oblast
Sosnovo is a settlement in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, on the Karelian Isthmus, and an important railway station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad...
, Priozersk
Priozersk
Priozersk is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, centered on an island at the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of River Vuoksi on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad with the same name...
and Kuznechnoye
Kuznechnoye
Kuznechnoye is an urban locality in the northern part of Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, located on the Karelian Isthmus...
. Originally built by Finnish State Railways in the Grand Duchy of Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
, the railway was part of a trunk line from Vaasa
Vaasa
Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa...
by the Gulf of Botnia to Saint Petersburg. In 1940 in the Moscow Peace Treaty the territory was ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union. The railroad is now operated by the Russian Railways
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...
. The railroad is used by passenger trains between Saint Petersburg and Sortavala
Sortavala
Sortavala is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga. Population: It is an important station of the Vyborg-Joensuu railroad.-History:...
. The track between Hiitola and Sortavala is part of the Vyborg–Joensuu railroad
Vyborg–Joensuu railroad
The old Karelian railroad between Viipuri and Joensuu is a railway with broad gauge, which used to link Joensuu, Sortavala, Hiitola, Antrea and Viipuri...
completed in 1894.
As the Russian part of the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg Railway is planned to be renovated to handle high-speed
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
international trains operated by Karelian Trains
Karelian Trains
Oy Karelian Trains Ltd is a joint venture agreed on 23 November 2006 between Russian Railways and VR Group to facilitate the operation of international express passenger rail services between Helsinki, Finland and Saint Petersburg, Russia. Karelian Trains is registered in Helsinki, VR and RZhD...
and to be used exclusively for passenger traffic, so the cargo traffic between Finland and Russia—mostly lumber, granite rubble and oil—is expected to be switched to the Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad. This would make the railway a part of the Northern East-West Freight Corridor.
History
The railway connected HiitolaKhiytola
Khiytola is a settlement in Lahdenpohja district of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, and the railroad junction of the Vyborg–Joensuu and Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroads. Before the Winter War it was a municipality of the Viipuri province of Finland....
on the Vyborg–Joensuu Railway with Finland Station in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, bypassing the Riihimäki-Vyborg-Saint Petersburg trunk line of Finnish railways. Construction of the railway had been completed by January 1917, although some works continued until 1919. The line was constructed from Rautu (Sosnovo) to Hiitola, as single line railway which is used in both directions. The part of the railway south of Raasuli (Orekhovo) was on the Russian side of the Finnish-Russian border.
In 1918, after Finnish independence and during the Finnish Civil War
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
, communications between Finland and Soviet Russia ceased. In spring 1918, troops under Georg Elfvengren
Georg Elfvengren
Colonel Georg Elfvengren was a Finnish officer of the Russian Imperial Guard during the First World War and a noted commander of the Finnish Civil War and Heimosodat, who sympathized with the Russian White movement and fought against Finnish and Russian Red Guards on the Karelian Isthmus on both...
blew up the track to prevent supplies reaching Red Guard units operating near Rautu. The railway was cut between Nuijala (67th km) and Lembolovo and 1.7 kilometers of track was removed on the Finnish side. The Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
– Lembolovo part became part of NKPS Soviet Railways 1919 - 1939. This section was operated by at first by Nikolai Railway and later, after name change, the October Railway.
In 1940, after the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
and again in 1944 after the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
the Karelian Isthmus
Karelian Isthmus
The Karelian Isthmus is the approximately 45–110 km wide stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva . Its northwestern boundary is the relatively narrow area between the Bay of Vyborg and Lake Ladoga...
with the railway was ceded to the Soviet Union in the Moscow Peace Treaty, Moscow Armistice
Moscow Armistice
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...
and Paris Peace Treaty
Paris Peace Treaties, 1947
The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...
.
In 1939, as the war had begun, the population along the railway was evacuated, mostly to Pieksämäki
Pieksämäki
Pieksämäki is a town and municipality of Finland. Its original name was Haukivuori .It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region.The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
. In 1941 some of them returned. In June 1944 during the final stages of the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
, a train of Karelian evacuees
Evacuation of Finnish Karelia
As a result of the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty that concluded the Winter War, Finland ceded the area of Finnish Karelia and other territories to the Soviet Union...
was bombed by the Soviet Air Force
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Force, officially known in Russian as Военно-воздушные силы or Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily and often abbreviated VVS was the official designation of one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces...
in Petäjärvi.
The second parallel track
Double track
A double track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.- Overview :...
between Sosnovo and Losevo, which is expected to be linked to Kamennogorsk
Kamennogorsk
Kamennogorsk , known as Antrea before 1948, is a town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus on the left bank of the Vuoksa River northwest of St. Petersburg...
and Vyborg, has been under construction since 2008 to handle the increasing freight traffic bypassing the connection between Saint Petersburg and Vyborg.
Train stations
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
/Karelian name are given in brackets. Stops of the diesel-engined train are bolded.
- Saint Petersburg – Finlyandsky Rail Terminal (1870) 0 km
- Kushelevka (1912) as a freight terminal from so called Connection Line. 5 km
- Piskaryovka (Piskarjevka, 1914) 9 km
- Ruchyi (Rutshi, 1917) 12 km
- Murino (Muurola)
- DevyatkinoDevyatkinoDevyatkino is a station of the Saint Petersburg Metro and St. Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railway. It is the only Metro station located outside the city limits, in Leningrad Oblast....
(Vanha Miina, 1917) 17 km - Lavriki (Suur Laurikkala. 1932)
- Kapitolovo (Kopittara, 1957) 23 km
- Kuzmolovo (Kuismala, 1929)
- ToksovoToksovoToksovo is an urban locality in Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located to the north of St. Petersburg on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by two neighboring stations of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad: Toksovo and Kavgolovo...
(Toksava / Toksova, 1917) 29 km - Kavgolovo (Kaukola, 1929)
- Oselki (Osselki / Osselkä, 1929)
- Peri (1924) 42 km
- 39th km (Lieskola)
- Gruzino (Rokansaari, 1917). Branch line to Zavodskoy (Kuivaisi). 50 km
- 47th km (Varsala)
- VaskelovoVaskelovoVaskelovo is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, and an important station of the Saint Petersburg-Hiitola railroad, being the final destination of many suburban electric passenger trains from Finlyandsky Rail Terminal and Devyatkino....
(Juskela, 1917) 57 km - 54th km (Lempäälä)
- LembolovoLembolovoLembolovo is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Vsevolozhsky District of Leningrad Oblast, and a station of the Saint Petersburg-Hiitola railroad....
(Orimäki, 1916) - Orekhovo / Orehovo (Kurenmäki, 1916) 69 km
- 67th km (Nuijala)
- 69th km
- SosnovoSosnovo, Leningrad OblastSosnovo is a settlement in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, on the Karelian Isthmus, and an important railway station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad...
(1916, Rautu) ex VR station 79 km - 78th km (Mäkrä, now Razdolye )
- Petyayarvi (1916, Petäjärvi) 91 km
- LosevoLosevo, Leningrad OblastLosevo is a station settlement in Priozersky District, Leningrad Oblast, located at the junction of Vuoksi River and Lake Sukhodolskoye on Karelian Isthmus. It is a railway station of the Saint Petersburg–Khiytola railroad...
(1916, Kiviniemi) - GromovoGromovoGromovo is a settlement in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located 18 km northwest of Sosnovo, and a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railway. Gromovo is situated on the northern shore of the Lake Sukhodolskoye, Karelian Isthmus. Until the Winter War and the...
(1916, Sakkola) 107 km - Sukhodolye (1916, Haitermaa)
- OtradnoyeOtradnoye, Priozersky District, Leningrad OblastOtradnoye is a rural locality on Karelian Isthmus, in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, and a station of the Saint Petersburg-Hiitola railroad. Before the Winter War and Continuation War it was the administrative center of the Pyhäjärvi municipality of Viipuri province of Finland. It is...
(1916, Pyhäjärvi) 120 km - Myullyupelto (1916, Myllypelto) 130 km
- Sinyovo (1916, Näpinlahti)
- PriozerskPriozerskPriozersk is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, centered on an island at the southwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of River Vuoksi on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by a station of the Saint Petersburg-Kuznechnoye railroad with the same name...
(1916, Käkisalmi) 145 km - 148th km (Granitnoye) (1916, Kapisalmi)
- 152nd km (Bogatyri) (1916, Paukkunen)
- KuznechnoyeKuznechnoyeKuznechnoye is an urban locality in the northern part of Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, located on the Karelian Isthmus...
(1916, Kaarlahti) 160 km - 159th km
- 168th km, Kulikovo (1892, Kirkko Hiitola)
- KhiytolaKhiytolaKhiytola is a settlement in Lahdenpohja district of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, and the railroad junction of the Vyborg–Joensuu and Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroads. Before the Winter War it was a municipality of the Viipuri province of Finland....
(1892, Hiitola) 178 km
Electrification
- 1951: Finlyandskiy Rail Terminal – Piskaryovka
- 1958: Piskaryovka – Peri
- 1959: Peri – Vaskelovo
- 1959: Vaskelovo – Sosnovo
- 1975: Sosnovo – Priozersk
- 1976: Priozersk – Kuznechnoye
Finnish statistics for Hiitola - Raasuli - Border Line
Public Timetable 1938:- Hiitola 0 km station 55.62 metre above sea level
- Vaavoja 5 km stopping place (5.4 km)
- Veijala 8 km platfort switch (8.3 km)
- Kopsala 11 km stopping place in 1944 timetable (11.1 km)
- Sirsjärvi 14 km stopping place (14.4 km)
- Kaarlahti 18 km station (18.2 km) 11.89 metre above sea level
- Suokkala 21 km stopping place (21.6 km)
- Kapeasalmi 26 km platform switch (26.1 km) 14.29 metre above sea level
- Käkisalmi 33 km station (33.6 km) 10.02 metre above sea level
- Näpinlahti 43 km platform switch (43.6 km) 10.02 metre above sea level
- Myllypelto 48 km station (48.7 km) 22.67 metre above sea level
- Rajasuo 52 km stopping place in 1944 timebable (51.9 km)
- Pyhäjärvi 58 km station (58.7 km) 23.84 metre above sea level
- Noitermaa 65 km platform switch (65.1 km) 32.61 metre above sea level
- Sakkola 71 km station (71.6 km) 46 metre above sea level
- Viiksanlahti 76 km stopping place
- Kiviniemi 79 km station (79.5 km) 16.05 metre above sea level
- Suvantola 81 km stopping place
- Petäjärvi 88 km station (88.0 km) 52.11 metre above sea level
- Mäkrä 95 km stopping place
- Rautu 99 km station (99.8 km) 64.44 above sea level
- Raasuli border 8941,6 metre from Rautu. Highest point of the line, 97.61 metre above sea level.
Branches
The Finlyandsky Rail Terminal also serves the railroads heading toward ZelenogorskZelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg
Zelenogorsk , ' before 1948, is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located in part of the Karelian Isthmus on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, and a station on the St. Petersburg-Vyborg railroad. It is located about northwest of central Saint...
and Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
, among others. Further, after Piskaryovka, the road branches into three ways, two others heading south and east. After Murino there is a link to Pargolovo (Vyborg direction), along which a section of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road
Saint Petersburg Ring Road
The Saint Petersburg Ring Road is an 88-mile orbital freeway encircling Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the only beltway around the city. The St. Petersburg Ring Road in the Russian road numbering system is listed as the federal public road A-118.-Construction:The need for the construction of a...
has been constructed.
By 1930 in Finland a railroad linking Viipuri (Vyborg), Heinjoki (Veshchevo), Ristseppälä (Zhitkovo) and Valkjärvi (Michurinskoye) had been built, which was expected to be continued to Rautu (Sosnovo). The Russians started to build the missing section between Rautu and Valkjärvi. The Finns considered also to build this missing link but they found the difference in turns of highest maximum up grade too big (Valkjärvi station was 111.89 metre above sea level). The up grade from River Saija would have been more than 15 pro mille. That was too much for this proposed line and the project was cancelled. In 1941 6 km of the track bed had been completed by the Russians in August 1941. This section was never completed. However, in the 1950s Soviet authorities demolished the track between Zhitkovo and Michurinskoye, but the track bed remains, and the rails between Veshchevo and Zhitkovo were also dismantled in 2001. However, the roadbed from Veshchevo to Sosnovo has remained until now.
At Käkisalmi was an short industrial 1524 mm railway to German owned Waldhof Cellulose Factory. This line was connected with VR built short Käkisalmi Harbour Line.
As of 2007, projects are being discussed to construct a cargo railway along the northern shore of the Vuoksi River
Vuoksi River
The Vuoksi River runs in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The river enters Lake Ladoga in three branches, an older main northern branch at Priozersk , a smaller branch few km...
from Losevo to Kamennogorsk
Kamennogorsk
Kamennogorsk , known as Antrea before 1948, is a town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus on the left bank of the Vuoksa River northwest of St. Petersburg...
to ship crude oil to the sea port of Primorsk
Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast
Primorsk is a coastal town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, and the largest Russian port on the Baltic. It is located on the Karelian Isthmus, west of St. Petersburg, at the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland, near Birch Islands, protected as a sea bird sanctuary...
bypassing the Saint Petersburg – Vyborg line. An alternative is reconstruction of the Sosnovo – Michurinskoye – Zhitkovo – Vyborg railway.
The old Karelian railroad links Vyborg and Kamennogorsk (in turn linked by railway to Imatra
Imatra
Imatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland, founded in 1948 around three industrial settlements near the Finnish–Russian border. In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and...
, Finland) to Hiitola.
Besides, a number of short military and industrial railways a few km long branch off from this line, e.g. a track between Orekhovo and Lembolovo westwards to Steklyannyi (Riskanmäki), between Gruzino and 47th km eastwards, between Otradnoye and Myllypelto westwards. At Priozersk eastwards to the Priozersk Pulp and Paper Mill, (former Waldhof Factory), as well as at Kuznechnoye (Kaarlahti) to the shore of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...
) harbour.
Trains
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
to the ports of the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
through Hiitola, lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
and iron ore pellets from Karelia
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas...
, as well as granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
rubble
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...
from Kuznechnoye. Besides, it is a popular passenger line.
Electric
-
- (elektrichkaElektrichkaElektrichka is an informal word for elektropoyezd , a Soviet or post-Soviet regional electrical multiple unit passenger train. Elektrichkas are widespread in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union....
s)
- (elektrichka
- Saint Petersburg – Vaskelovo (about 1 h 25 min with all stops as of 2007)
- Saint Petersburg – Sosnovo (about 2 h with all stops as of 2007)
- Saint Petersburg – Priozersk (about 2 h 50 min with all stops as of 2007)
- Saint Petersburg – Kuzhechnoye (about 3 h 25 min with all stops as of 2007)
- Devyatkino – Vaskelovo (about 50 min with all stops as of 2007)
- Devyatkino – Sosnovo (about 1 h 20 min with all stops as of 2007)
- Kuznechnoye – Sortavala (about 25 min from Kuznechnoye to Hiitola with all stops as of 2007)
Diesel-engined
- Saint Petersburg (Ladozhsky Rail Terminal) – Hiitola – SortavalaSortavalaSortavala is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga. Population: It is an important station of the Vyborg-Joensuu railroad.-History:...
– KostomukshaKostomukshaKostomuksha is a town located in the northwestern part of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, from the border with Finland and on the shore of lake Kontoki. Population:...
(about 3 h 35 m from Saint Petersburg to Hiitola)
External links
- Вокзалы и станции Приозерского направления (Stations on the Priozersk railway) Images