Every other day a train leaves Moscow on a seven-day journey
across the largest country in the world.
The final destination is Vladivostok.
The trip is 6,152 miles and it’s the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest
on the globe. To be specific the train
is the Rossiya (“Russia”). Traveling eastbound it is designated Train #2,
traveling westbound it is Train #1. Passengers
have a choice of a first-class two-berth compartment or a second-class four-berth
compartment. Once in Vladivostok travelers
can board a ferry for a two-night 36 hours cruise to Japan or South Korea. Vladivostok is just one of many routes of the
Trans-Siberian Railway. In the 1950s a
rail line was completed to Beijing linking Russia to China. Once a week, a Trans-Siberian train leaves
Moscow for a trip to Mongolia and Northern China. This route passes through the Gobi Desert
with final destination being Beijing.
Yet another train connects Russia with Manchuria. Russian
train service has greatly improved over the years with trains running daily
from Moscow to Berlin, Paris,
Frankfurt, Warsaw, Vienna, Prague, and more.
The idea for the
Trans-Siberian train was born with Czar Nicholas II in 1890. The Czar had just completed a world tour with
the last stop being Japan. From there it
was a quick dash over to Vladivostok which put him back on native soil. He immediately envisioned a train ride back
to Moscow. Construction began in 1891
and today the entire network is the longest railway in the world. Construction and repair has been constant, as
recently as 2011 a new line was created to connect the railway to North
Korea. One travel tip: The lower the
train number the more express the journey. Expect Train 999 to make quite a few
stops.
The ride is of virtually
unspoiled wilderness (see map). Nearly three quarters
of Russia is Siberia yet it is home to only 15% of the country’s
population. What most riders see is
birch trees—endless views of birch trees.
Long delays are common when passing into China as the overly-efficient
Chinese make detailed and lengthy inspections. Most passenger service is comprised of native
Russians who use the train to get to work, visit family and travel. In recent years it has become popular with
foreign tourists. Improvements have been
made to accommodate vacation travelers with many new or refurbished coaches
making their debut this century.
The new connections
and improvements in logistics have greatly helped the rolling stock on the
railway. Today it is possible to have
Chinese goods reach Berlin and other parts of Europe by rail in less than 15 days.
While the
Trans-Siberian Railroad continues to expand and generate profits the same
cannot be said for the industry in the United States. The U.S. was building railroads as quickly as
possible in the 19th century with an all-time high of over quarter million
miles of rail lines coming in 1910. It
was at this time rail companies began to merge. Those that tried to stay small
and independent ultimately failed during the Great Depression in the 1930s. By the 1950s the massive interstate highway
system was nearing completion making truck delivery efficient. In 1973 FedEx (then known as Federal Express)
began overnight package delivery flights via the airplane furthering the decline
of America’s rolling stock trains. The
old rail lines followed suit.
Each week rail lines
across the U.S. apply for abandonment status. The old line can then enter into
“railbanking” status, meaning the line can be preserved for future use. Once officially abandoned, the line can find
new owners and a new use. More often
than not that new use is a new rail trail.
Something old is new again in America.
Railstotrails.org has valuable railbanking info on their website.
Meanwhile in Russia,
the trains continue their charge across the country and the continent.
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