Russian Railways

File:RussianRailways.png

Russian Railways emblem

Russian Railways EMU ED4MKM

Russian Railways ([Российские железные дороги, РЖД, Rossijskie Železnye Dorogi, RŽD] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)), is the state-owned railway company of Russia. The company is one of the biggest railway companies in the world with 1.2 million employees and a monopoly within Russia. The total length of track used by the Russian Railways is, at 85,500 kilometres (53,130 mi), one of the largest in the world.

Russian Railways accounts for over 3.6% of Russia's GDP and handles 80% of all passenger transportation and 82% of all freight in Russia. A further 270,000 freight wagons in Russia are privately owned. Almost 1.3 billion passengers and 1.3 billion tons of freight travel via Russian Railways annually. The company owns around 20,000 locomotives, 25,000 passenger wagons and 650,000 freight wagons (although only about 40,000 are currently operable).

History

Imperial period

The most important railway lines of Russia

In the early 1830s Russian inventors father and son Cherepanov built the first Russian steam locomotives. The first railroad track was built in Russia in 1837 between Saint-Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo. The Department of Railways, later part of the Russian Ministry of Communications, was created in the Russian Empire in 1842 in order to oversee the construction of Russia’s first major railway line. The railway linked the imperial capital Saint-Petersburg and Moscow and was built between 1842 and 1851.

On 15 June 1865, an edict of Alexander II established the Ministry of Communications, which absorbed the Department of Railways. In the 1860s and 70s, Pavel Melnikov, Russia’s first Minister of Communications, played a key role in the expansion of the railway network throughout European Russia.

The Trans-Siberian Railway connecting Moscow and European Russia with the Russian Far East provinces, Mongolia, China and the Sea of Japan was built between 1891 and 1916.

The marker for kilometre 9288, at the end of the Trans-Siberian Railway line in Vladivostok

This Japanese D51 steam locomotive stands outside the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Railway Station Sakhalin Island, Russia.

During the First World War and especially the Russian Civil War more than 60% of the Russian railway network and more than 80% of the carriages and locomotives were destroyed.

Soviet period

In the Soviet period People's Commissariat of Communications expanded railway network to a total length of 106,100 km by 1940. During the Great Patriotic War (World War II) the railway system played a vital role in the war effort transporting military personnel, equipment and freight to the frontlines and often evacuating entire factories and towns from European Russia to the Ural region and Siberia. After the war the Soviet railway network was re-built and further expanded to more than 145,000 km of track by major additions such as Baikal Amur Mainline.

Russian Federation

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union its railway system broke up into national railway systems of various former Soviet republics.

In 2003 a vast structural reform was implemented in order to preserve the unity of the railway network and separate the functions of state regulation from operational management: On 18 September, 2003, Decree No. 585 of the Russian Government established the Russian Railways Public Corporation with state holds 100% of the shares.

The current CEO of the company is Vladimir Yakunin. There are plans for partial privatization of the company in the future in order to raise much needed capital from the sale of shares.

Foreign activities

The RZD will operate the Armenian Railway for 30 years from 2008. During this period, at least 570 million euros will be invested, 90% thereof go into infrastructure.

In Saudi Arabia, the RZD will build a 520 km railway line from Al Zabirah to King Khalid International Airport. This section of track will cost 800 million USD and be completed by 2011.

In North Korea the RZD participates in the upgrading of the line from Tumangan to Rajin at the Sea of Japan and in the building of a container terminal in Rajin.

See also

• Elektrichka
• Communications in Russia
• Transport in Russia
• Russian Post
• List of railways in Russia
• Varshavsky Rail Terminal - national railway museum of Russia

External links

• Russian Railways Official Site Template:En icon Template:Ru icon
• Steam on Sakhalin Island [1]
• Russian finance [2]