Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian Railroad is an impressive railway network with a length of 9259 kilometers. It connects Moscow and Eastern Russia and the countries of Japan, China and Mongolia.

The first plans of the Trans-Siberian Railway were laid during the reign of Emperor Alexander II under the supervision of Alexander III. A total of 1.455 billion rubles were spent for the construction in between the years 1891-1931 which is the highest amount spent compared to money spent during the World War I.

Local laborers and Russian soldiers were used in the construction of the railroad. Construction on Lake Baikal was a challenge in those days as it measured 640 km long and 5000 feet deep. The Amur River Line that leads to the Chinese border was completed in the year 1916. It is also the longest railway line in the world. Electrification for this route began in 1929 and was completed in 2002.

The main route was built between the years 1891-1916 that connected Russia with China that included a shortcut to Vladivostok. It starts from St. Petersburg at Moskovsky and it passes through the routes of Moscow, Omsk, Novosibrisk, Taishet, Irkutsk, Ulan Ude, Chita, Khabarovsk and ends at Vladivostok.

The second route is known as Trans-Manchurian that coincides with Tarskaya and Trans-Siberian. It starts from Tarskaya and passes through Harbin and Mudanjiang located to the northeast of China and it joins with Ussuriysk also the main route located to the north of Vladivostok.

The third route is known as Trans-Mongolian Railway. It coincides with Trans-Siberian and Ulan Ude and from here it leads to the Ulaan-Baatar and later it heads to Beijing.

In 1991 a new route has been opened which was constructed for than five decades. It is known as Baikal Amur Mainline and it passes through the Amur River and finally reaches Pacific at Sovetskaya Gavan.

The train tickets can be purchased from a number of companies such as Czech Railways, Polskie Koleje Panstwowe and Germany’s Deutsche Bahn. The tickets from Vladovostok to Central Europe costs about €250.

Trans-Siberian Railway