About Trans Siberian railroad. Transsib. Trip to Transiberian raiload. Tour to Transsib. Trans Sib.
About Trans Siberian railroad. Transsib. Trip to Transiberian raiload. Tour to Transsib. Trans Sib.
About Trans Siberian railroad. Transsib. Trip to Transiberian raiload. Tour to Transsib. Trans Sib.
TRANS SIBERIAN RAILROAD
WHAT IS THE TRANS SIBERIAN 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 пїЅ 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.
 
It takes more than six days to travel along the whole Trans-Siberian, so it is recommended to make stopovers along the way пїЅ like this your trip will be much more interesting also. 
 
After crossing Siberia (soon after Irkutsk) the Trans-Siberian route divides into three different routes:
 
The Trans-Siberian Route: Moscow - Vladivostok пїЅ the original Trans-Siberian railway, which goes all along Siberia and through the Far East (to the Pacific Ocean).
 
The Trans-Mongolian Route: Moscow - Ulaanbaatar - Beijing. You will see Siberian plains and forests, Mongolian steppe and even a part of     Gobi desert along this route that goes through Mongolia to China.
 
The Trans-Manchurian Route: Moscow - Beijing пїЅ a direct way from Russia to China that goes around the Eastern border of Mongolia,     not crossing it. It can be interesting for those, who are not interested in going to Mongolia, or who can't get tickets for other trains
 
TRANS SIBERIAN RAILROAD FACTS
Length
9288.2 km (5772 miles) by the main passenger way. It's largest railway in the world. Beginning at Yaroslavsky terminus, Moscow - Vladivostok terminus. On January 1, 2001 is electrified on the Transsib 9019 km, or 97,1% of whole length of the railway (there was only one non-electrified section Guberovo - Ruzhino - Sibirtsevo on the Far East Division in length 270 km).
 
Beginning of
construction
31st May 1891 when Tsar Nicholas I laid the foundation stone near Vladivostok and the work began and continued for fourteen years until 1901, when the East Chinese section was completed linking Russia with China.
 
End of construction
18th October 1916, when the bridge across  Amur river was finished near Khabarovsk. But it was only the end of the  first section as others followed during the decades.
 
Main route
Moscow: Yaroslavskaya - Yaroslavl: Main - Danilov -  Bui - Shar'ya - Kirov - Balezino - Perm'2 - Yekaterinenburg (Sverdlovsk)  - Tyumen - Nazyvaevskaya - Omsk - Barabinsk - Novosibirsk: Main -  Mariinsk - Achinsk1 - Krasnoyarsk - Ilanskaya - Taishet - Nishneudinsk -  Zima - Irkutsk - Sludyanka1 - Ulan-Ude - Petrovskiy Zavod - Chita2 -  Karymskaya - Chernyshevsk - Zabaikalskiy - Mogocha - Skovorodino -  Belogorsk - Arkhara - Khabarovsk-1 - Vyazemskaya - Ruzhino -Ussuriysk -  Vladivostok
Travel along the Trans-Siberian Railway is usually  undertaken from west to east, though it is quite possible to go in the  opposite.
 
Territories
The Transsib crosses territory of 20 regions of the  Russian Federation (14 - oblasts, 3 - krai, 2 - autonomy republics and 1 - autonomy oblast): Moskovskaya, Vladimirskaya, Yaroslavskaya,  Kostromskaya, Kirovskaya oblasts, Udmurtskaya republic, Permskaya, Sverdlovskaya, Tumenskaya, Omskaya, Novosibirskaya, Kemerovskaya  oblasts, Krasnoyarskiy krai, Irkutskaya oblast, Buryatskaya republic, Chitinskaya, Amurskaya oblasts, Jewish autonomy oblast, Khabarovskiy  krai and Primorskiy krai.
 
Cities
89 cities are located on the Transsib: 5 cities with the population over 1,000,000 peoples (Moscow, Perm,  Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk), 9 cities with the population from 300,000 up 1,000,000 peoples (Yaroslavl, Kirov, Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk,  Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok) and 75 cities with the population less then 300,000 peoples.
 
Rivers
The Transsib crosses 16 large rivers: Volka,  Vyatka, Kama , Tobol, Irtysh, Ob', Tom', Chulym, Yenisei, Oka, Selenga, Zeya, Bureya, Amur, Khor, Ussuri; and along the length of 220 km passes  on the coast of Baikal lake and 39 km on the coast of Amursky Bay of Japanese Sea. Amur is the widest of them, nearly 2 km)
 
Other routes.
There is only one Transsiberian Railway but different  routes are possible. The main route between Moscow and Vladivostok is  usually taken by travelers.
 
The Trans Mongolian Line was built from 1940 to  1956 between Ulan-Ude at Lake Baikal's eastern shore and the Chinese capital Beijing. From Ulan-Ude the tracks go south, towards Mongolia,  crossing the large Gobi dessert and finally ending up in Beijing, China. This route has a length of 7867 km (Moscow - Beijing). One speciality  you should see is the changing of the chassis at the Chinese border because of different width of the tracks in China and Russia.
 
The Trans Manchurian Line which coincides with  the Trans-Siberian as far as Tarskaya, a few hundred miles east of Baikal. From Tarskaya the Trans-Manchurian heads southeast into China  near Zabaikalsk and makes its way down to Beijing. This route has a length of 9001 km (Moscow - Beijing).
 
The Baikal Amur Magistrale (BAM) was started in the 1930s and officially opened 1984 after decades od sporadic work. It  started in Taishet and reaches the Pacific ocean northeast of Khabarovsk, at Sovetskaya Galan. The 3.843 km long BAM runs several  hundred km north of and parallel to the Transiberian Raiway. Even today, the BAM is not complete as one tunnel still has to be finished. This  route is hardly found in any of the travel agency brochures outside the CIS. The reason for this is that there is actually no train doing the  entire track. You have actually to hop different trains and sometimes even take the bus.
Enjoy journey
Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway has long been an  almost mythic experience. It is the longest continuous rail line on  earth, each run clattering along in an epic journey of almost six  thousand miles (or more then nine thousand kilometers) over one third of  the globe. For most of its history, the Trans-Siberian journey has been  an experience of almost continuous movement, seven days or more of  unabated train travel through the vast expanse of Russia. A great part  of the pleasure of such a trip is simply sitting back and watching the  land go by. However, most travelers on the Trans-Siberian find that  interaction with other passengers, both Russians and tourists, is what  makes the trip an unforgettable experience. Today, with far fewer travel  restrictions, it is possible to use the rail journey as the core of a  more varied tour. Travelers can enjoy stopovers in many of the Russian  cities and towns along the route, from the historic Volga port of  Yaroslavl to Irkutsk and the scenic Lake Baikal region. The  Transsib pass through territory  of two continents: Europe (0 - 1777 km) and Asia (1778 - 9289  km). On Europe contain 19,1% of lengths of the Transsib; on Asia,  accordingly - 80,9%. Stome memorial "Border Europe - Asia" is  placed on the 1777/1778 km near Pervouralsk city.
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