| Saint Petersburg–Moscow railway (Nikolaevskaya railway) | |
|---|---|
 | |
 TheSapsanhigh speed train on the way from Moscow to St. Petersburg. | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Mostly passenger service |
| Owner | Russian Railways |
| Termini | |
| Service | |
| Type | High-speed rail Commuter rail Inter-city rail |
| System | October Railway |
| Operator(s) | Russian Railways |
| Rolling stock | |
| History | |
| Opened | 1851 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 649.7 km (403.7 mi) |
| Character | Passenger and freight |
| Track gauge | 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) |
| Operating speed | 250 km/h (155 mph) |
TheSaint Petersburg toMoscow railway (1855–1923 –Nikolaevskaya railway) runs for 649.7 kilometers (403.7 mi) through fouroblasts:Leningrad,Novgorod,Tver andMoscow. It is a major traffic artery in the north-west region of Russia, operated by theOctober Railway subdivision ofRussian Railways.
On 1 February 1842, TsarNicholas I issued a ukase ordering the railway's construction. The railway was a pet project ofPavel Melnikov (1804–1880), an engineer and administrator who supervised its construction and whose statue may be seen near the southernterminus, theLeningradsky railway station in Moscow. The idea of a railway connecting the two capitals gave rise to a prolonged controversy, with some reactionary officials predicting social upheaval if the masses were allowed to travel. It was decided that only the affluent would be allowed to use the line; every passenger was to be subjected to strict passport and police control.[citation needed]
Although theTsarskoye Selo Railway, built by German engineer Franz Anton von Gerstner in 1837, was Russia's first public railway line, the cost overruns led TsarNicholas I and his advisors to doubt Gerstner's ability to execute the planned St. Petersburg–Moscow line.[1] So Melnikov and another colleague traveled to the United States in 1839 to study railroad technology, where they metGeorge Washington Whistler, who designed theCanton Viaduct for theBoston and Providence Railroad.[2]
Upon Melnikov's recommendation, TsarNicholas I invited Whistler to help build the railway. Whistler left for Russia in June 1842, accompanied by imperial engineer Major Ivan F. Bouttatz, who would become Whistler's friend.[1][3] He received theOrder of Saint Anna by the Russian Emperor in 1847 but contractedcholera and died on 7 April 1849, inSaint Petersburg, Russia, two years before the line was completed.
It was built byserfs with heavy loss of life, a fact bemoaned byNikolay Nekrasov in his 1864 poemThe Railway.[4] After ten years of construction, the line opened on 1 November 1851. The first passenger train left Saint Petersburg at 11:15 and arrived in Moscow at 21:00 the next day. When completed, the line was the longest double-track railway in the world.[citation needed]
TsarNicholas I figures in anurban legend about the railroad. When it was planned in 1842, he supposedly demanded the shortest path be used despite major obstacles in the way. The story says he tried to use a ruler to draw the railroad in a perfectly straight line. By theMsta River the tsar's pencil hit an awkwardly placed finger which he was using to hold down the ruler, creating a bend in the line. The legend says that the engineers wanted to execute the tsar's order exactly, and the result was a perfectly straight track apart from a single bend. The false story became popular in Russia and Britain as an explanation of how poorly the country was governed. By the 1870s, Russians were telling a different version, claiming the tsar was wise to overcome local interests that wanted the railway diverted this way and that. A similar story is told about theUlm-Friedrichshafen railway that includes a remarkably straight stretch bypassing many settlements - as the story goes due to endless debates between local advocates about what village to serve, which were ended when theKing of Württemberg took out a ruler and drew a straight line saying "this is how I want my railway built".[5]
What actually happened was that the road was laid out by engineers and he endorsed their advice to build in a straight line.[6] The curve, also called the Verebinsky bypass, was actually built in 1877, 26 years after the line came into being, to circumvent a steep gradient that lasted for 17 km (10.6 mi). Heading for St Petersburg, trains would pick up so much speed that they steamed straight past the next station, while those heading for Moscow needed four locomotives to get up the hill.[7] In 2001, the bypass was closed as a new viaduct had been opened.
In 2001, Russia's firsthigh-speed rail line was planned to be constructed along the same route, but the project was eventually shelved amid ecological protests and concerns about the fragile environment of theValdai Hills. In 2019, the start of a new design phase was given approval.[8] Construction on theMoscow–Saint Petersburg high-speed railway began in March 2024.[9]
The maximum speed is 250 km/h (155 mph), however this speed is allowed only on less than 10 km (6.2 mi) of the line. A maximum speed of 220 km/h (140 mph) is permitted for 110 km (68 mi) of the line. The rest of the route allows a maximum speed of 200 km/h (124 mph). The fastest train takes 3 hours and 30 minutes (which gives an average speed of 185 km/h (115 mph)). TheSiemens Velaro RUS train, also known asSapsan, has operated on this line since 2009, running below their maximum speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) because of difficulties upgrading all the track. Russian Railways spent nearly $1 billion on eight trains. In 2019, a third order of €1.1 billion for 13 more trains of the same model was signed.[10]
Since 1931 the famousKrasnaya Strela ("Red Arrow") train has left Moscow at 23:55 daily, arriving in St Petersburg at 07:55 the next morning, and vice versa.
The railway is relatively congested, which means that only a few high speed trains can run each day. There are proposals to build a parallel high-speed railway allowing speeds up to 400 km/h (250 mph), at an estimated cost of 696 bn roubles with an original estimated completion of 2018.[11]
Major stations include (south to north)Kryukovo (Zelenograd),Klin,Redkino,Tver,Likhoslavl,Kalashnikovo,Vyshny Volochyok,Bologoye,Okulovka,Luka,Malaya Vishera,Chudovo,Lyuban,Tosno andObukhovo.
There are 32 direct express trains daily from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, from which the following are a selection.[12]
| Train No. | From – Via – To | Moscow | S. P. | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moscow–St Petersburg | 06:45 | 10:30 | 3h 45min | "Sapsan", the fastest trains. | |
| Moscow–St Petersburg | 07:00 | 10:55 | 3h 55min | "Sapsan" | |
| Moscow–St Petersburg | 16:30 | 20:25 | 3h 55min | "Sapsan" | |
| Moscow–St Petersburg | 19:45 | 23:30 | 3h 45min | "Sapsan" | |
| 032V | Moscow–St Petersburg–Helsinki | 22:50 | 06:02 | 7h 12min | International trains also run on this line. SeeAllegro. |
| 054Ch | Moscow–St Petersburg | 23:40 | 08:35 | 8h 55min | The slowest of the direct express trains. |
| 002A | Moscow–St Petersburg | 23:55 | 07:55 | 8h 00min | "The Red Arrow" sleeper train. |
| 004A | Moscow–St Petersburg | 23:59 | 08:00 | 8h 01min | "The Express" sleeper train. |
| 038A | Moscow–St Petersburg | 00:30 | 08:48 | 8h 18min | "The Megapolis" sleeper train. |
There are many more sleeper trains. International trains to nearby countries such as Finland andEstonia use this line.
The line runs only an absolutely unavoidable minimum of freight trains. However, with only one track in each direction (with the exception Moscow to Zelenograd, which has three tracks), expresses are often delayed by slower local commuter trains. Introduction of Sapsan service saw massive changes in suburban train timetables with some trains now having long stops at passing loops to allow overtaking and others cancelled, causing resentment in towns and settlements along the line.
A fourth track between Moscow and Zelenograd is under construction, and there are plans to extend the third track beyond Zelenograd to Tver.
On 16 August 1988, 31 people were killed when theAvrora derailed while traveling at high speed on a stretch of defective track nearBologoye.[13]
On 13 August 2007 an intercity passenger train to St Petersburg from Moscow derailed shortly before reachingMalaya Vishera after a bomb explosion. There were 30 injuries and no deaths, and railway traffic was blocked in both directions for a few days.[14][15][16] Two men from theIngushetia region ofNorth Caucasus, Salambek Dzakhkiyev and Maksharip Khidriyev, were charged in relation to this incident.[16] They were acquitted in January 2010 on the terrorism charge, but sentenced to prison terms on related charges. The court decided they delivered the explosives to the person who actually planted them, the leader of the terrorist cell,Pavel Kosolapov, at large at time of the trial, but were not aware how it was going to get used.[17] Dzakhkiyev and his defense lawyer, Magomed Razakov, were also convicted of trying to bribe the investigator. Dzakhkiyev was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, Khidriyev four years, Razakov two years two months.[18] The acquittal was upheld by the Supreme Court in March 2010.[19]
On 27 November 2009 four cars from train No. 166 derailed while travelling between Moscow and St. Petersburg.[20] The derailment was aterrorist act caused by the detonation of 7 kilograms (15 lb) ofTNT equivalent.[21] At least 27 people were killed and 96 injured.[22][23] In a secondary explosion on 28 November, directed at investigators,Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, was injured and hospitalised.[22]
The incident was reported to have similarities with the2007 explosion.[16]
