Trains in Russia

Metro map of Moscow

Railway Road Map of Russia

Railway Stations in Moscow

A journey on the 'Rossiya' was a completely different experience. Unlike the Moscow-Peking train, where almost everyone is making the complete journey, the Rossiya is used for all sorts of intermediate journeys, with Russians getting on and off at every station.

At the end of 18th century, building any type of road across frozen Siberia was a fantasy comparable to the Mars missions today. But it was done, with many stops and starts, and many failures and successes. On May 31 of 1891, in Vladivostok city, the Russian Emperor Nicholas the First personally “planted the seed” of a much needed connection between European Russia and its Pacific lands. The “seed” grew into an impressive rail network connecting Russia, China, Central Asia, and Europe, with the Trans-Siberian line as its core.

Today, the ~ 9600km (6000 miles) Trans-Siberian railroad, often referred to as the "Trans-Sib" or "Great Siberian Way" is the largest and busiest rail network in the world. A true engineering wonder, the road continues to provide steady traffic both eastbound and westbound by train engines running from electric power. It opened the doors to many corners of Eurasia and continues to be instrumental in defining trade and migration flow in Asia-Pacific countries.

BAM Railway (3400km / 2113mi) stands for Baikal-Amur Mainline. Its famous counterpart, the Trans-Siberian, was already in operation when, in 1938, Soviet leader Josef Stalin ordered a second line from Taishet city to the Pacific Ocean. But WWII and Stalin's death brought the BAM to a halt, and for the next 20 years little was done on the project. In 1974, Leonid Brezhnev announced BAM was a "Shock Project", giving it a national priority. Soon the Komsomol Youth Party began organizing workers by the thousands. In the early days almost all were volunteers, filled with the romance of pioneers and opportunities to earn triple salaries. The work was hard, long, and dangerous. Temperatures plunged below -50C in winter. Voracious gnats, ticks and mosquitoes attacked in summer. The breakup of USSR was particularly critical for the road, but it kept going and officially was completed in 1991.

When traveling along the BAM, pay attention to the design of each train station (buildings). It has an ethnic touch of the former USSR members. It was done on purpose to underline the unity of many cultures living in the USSR. Some of BAM train stations are true architectural art built of granite, wood, and metal.

The BAM tunnels deserve special attention.. particularly the 15-kilometer (9 miles) Severomuisky tunnel. It was finally completed in 2001 after 25 years of fighting the stubborn mountain. Today it is one of the world's longest railway tunnels. It was also the most difficult one to built because of the unique seismic and geological conditions.

To many Russian historians, the Trans-Manchurian Railroad is one of the chapters they don't like to talk about. It ended up being one of the largest economic and political losses for the country, which was never recovered. Due to the shape of the border with China, and to save time and money, Russia made a deal with China to build the very Eastern leg of the Trans-Siberian Railroad across northern Chinese Region of Manchuria. At the time, Russian-Chinese relations were good and everybody was a winner. It took 12 years to build the Eastern Chinese line. It was put into operations in 1903 and went from the Russian Chita region (Zabaikalsk station) through Manchuria via Harbin city to the Russian Pogranichnaya station (now Grodekovo station). Completing the Eastern Chinese line finally made it possible for trains to travel from Europe all the way to the Pacific cost until the Russian-Japanese war in 1905. Manchuria was already occupied by the Japanese, and it quickly became clear that the Eastern Chinese section of the Trans-Siberian road could no longer be used by Russia. It left the Czar's government no choice but to build a new railway section on the territory of Russia along the Chinese border. After a long and expensive venture, the traffic was finally re-opened in 1915. Later, the Eastern Chinese line was connected to Beijing and became known as the Trans-Manchurian Railroad.

Trans-Siberian railway (usually called TransSib in Russia) is the world's longest and the most famous train route that goes through Russia. It crosses the whole continent, starts in Moscow, passes through the European Russia, crosses Urals mountains (which separate Europe and Asia), continues into Siberia's taiga and steppes, and finishes in Vladivostok — the Russian Far East coast on the Pacific Ocean. The Trans-Siberian is an immense route: along more than 9000 kilometers of its length you will see different landscapes, meet many different people and cultures (especially, if you hop off the train at few points), experience magnificent Siberian Baikal lake, and just enjoy the trip in the train.

The original Russian name for this railway is "The Great Siberian Way", the name "Trans-Siberian" was given to this route by the West, and became very wide-spread.

This railway is the backbone of Russia. It is the only overland route going through the whole country. This unique status makes the railway still quite important for the economy and safety of the country, as it was supposed to be more than 100 years ago, when it was built.

The Train Time Table for Trains between West and East Russia

Stopovers on the train from Vladivostok to Moscow

• Vladivostok [0d 0h 0 mins, at 10.30]

• Khabarovsk [0 d 13 h 23 mins, at 23.53] - Birobidzhan - Skovorodino - Chita

• Ulan-Ude [2 d 16 h 30 mins, at 3.00, stops for 23 mins]

• Slyudyanka [2d 21h 33 mins, at 8.03, stops for 10 mins]

• Irkutsk [2 d 23 h 46 mins, at 10.16, stops for 23 mins] - Taishet

• Krasnoyarsk [3 d 18h 25 mins, at 4.55, stops for 20 mins] - Tyumen - Omsk

• Novosibirsk [4 d 6 h 58 mins, at 17.28, stops for 27 mins]

• Ekaterinburg [5 d 3 h 6 mins, at 13.36, stops for 41 mins] - Perm - Kirov - Nizhny Novgorod

• Vladimir [6 d 2 h 42 m, at 13.12, stops for 23 mins]

• Moscow.

Stopovers on the train from Moscow to Vladivostok

• Moscow [0d 0h 0 mins, at 17.16]

• ladimir [2h 59 mins, at 20.15, stops for 23 mins] - Nizhny Novgorod - Kirov - Perm

• Ekaterinburg [1 day 1 hour 37 mins, at 18.53, stops for 41 mins] - Tyumen - Omsk

• Novosibirsk [1 day 22 h 3 mins, at 15.19, stops for 21 minute] - Krasnoyarsk [2 d 10 h 28 mins, at 3.44, stops for 20 mins] - Taishet - Angarsk

• Irkutsk [3 d 4 h 57 mins, at 22.13, stops for 23 mins]

• Slyudyanka [3 d 7h 27 mins, at 0.43, stops for 10 mins]

• Ulan-Ude [3 d 12 h 18 mins, at 5.34, stops for 23 mins]

• Chita [3 d 21 h 53 mins, at 15.09, stops for 21 mins] - Skovorodino - Birobidzhan

• Khabarovsk [5 d 15 h 36 mins later, at 8.52]

• Vladivostok.

Stopovers on the train from Moscow to Irkutsk

• Moscow [0d 0h 0 mins, at 23.30]

• Vladimir [2h 57 mins, at 2.27, stops for 23 mins] - Nizhny Novgorod - Kirov - Perm

• Ekaterinburg [1 day 2 hour 8 mins, at 1.38, stops for 24 mins] - Tyumen - Omsk

• Novosibirsk [1 day 22 h 5 mins, at 21.35, stops for 20 minute]

• Krasnoyarsk [2 d 9 h 53 mins, at 9.23, stops for 20 mins] - Taishet - Angarsk

• Irkutsk [3 d 4 h 36 mins, at 4.06]

Stopovers on the train from Irkutsk to Moscow

• Irkutsk [0 d 0 h 0 mins, at 11.25] - Taishet

• Krasnoyarsk [18h 13 mins, at 5.48, stops for 20 mins] - Tyumen - Omsk

• Novosibirsk [1 d 6 h 32 mins, at 18.97, stops for 16 mins]

• Ekaterinburg [2 d 2 h 33 mins, at 14.08, stops for 23 mins] - Perm - Kirov - Nizhny Novgorod

• Vladimir [3 d 1 h 47 m, at 13.22, stops for 23 mins]

• Moscow.