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1.5. The records of the Trans-Siberian.

Below we are listing records and curious facts about the Transsiberian railway: where there are the coldest and hottest cities on the route, where there are the biggest stations, what cities are located along the railroad, the longest bridge and the longest tunnel, the biggest river…

The longest railroad in the world
The length of the Trans-Siberian is 9288,2 km: the mere fact explains why this railway is the longest in the world. It crosses the whole Eurasia, from Yaroslavsky station in Moscow (the beginning of Transsib) to Vladivostoksky terminal (the end of Transsib) and vasts until the Golden Horn Bay port in the Japanese sea.

The geographical borders of the Trans-Siberian Railway:
The most Western station: Moscow 3 (55°45’ N, 37°34’ E).The most Eastern station: Khabarovsk 2 (48°31’ N, 135°10’ E).The most Southern station: Vladivostok (43°07’ N, 131°53’ E).The most Northern station: Kirov (58°36’ N, 49°38’ E).

The territory and the two continents.
The Transsiberian crosses the territory of 2 continents: Europe (1777 km) and Asia (7512 km). The Transsiberian crosses Eurasia from west to east going on 19,1% of its length via Europe and and on 80,9% of its length via Asia. Near Pervouralsk, in the Ural mountains, the trains pass by a monument called “The Border between Europe and Asia”.

Across the endless Russia.
The Trans-Siberian crosses the borders of 14 “oblast” (regions), 3 “kray” (areas), 2 republics and 1 autonomous region: the Moscow, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Kirov regions, Udmurtia republic, Perm, Sverdlovsk(Ekaterinburg), Tumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions, Krasnoyarsky kray, Irkutsk region, Buryatia republic, Chita and Amur regions, Jewish autonomous region, Khabarovsk krai and Primorye kray. All these are situated on the Russian territory. With a bit of luck you will see the landmarks indicating these borders.

Almost 100 cities along the way.
88 cities are located along the Trans-Siberian railway, 5 of them have population over one million people (Moscow, Perm, Ekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk), 9 cities have populations from 300 thousand and one million people (Yaroslavl, Kirov, Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok) and the other cities have population less than 300 thousand people. 32 cities are presented in the Internet.

The great rivers crossed on the way.
On its way the Transsiberian railway crosses 16 big rivers (Volga, Vyatka, Kama, Tobol, Irtysh, Ob’. Tom’. Chulim, Enisei, Oka, Selenga, Zeya, Bureya, Amur, Khor and Ussury. Amur is the greatest river of the mentioned above, being about 2 km wide, because the railway crosses it in the widest place along its bed, other great rivers like Ob’ and Enisey are crossed by the railroad in their “top” parts, that is why the length of these bridges doesn’t eexceed one kilometer. The most dangerous river is certainly Khor, which is situated in the southern part of Khabarovsk kray, and can reach 9 km of height.

The only lake on halfway to the Pacific ocean.
207 kilometres of the railway are stretched aside the shore of Baikal lake. Baikal is the deepest lake of the world, the maximum depth reaching 1673 meters, and it is also the largest reservoire of sweet water in the world. The territories around the lake are really magnificent, with heaven standing high above the water miracle of immense beauty, one of the miracles of the world nature. If you travel from west to east, you will first see Baikal at 5276 km of the railway, after the Adrianovsky passage, then in 28 km right before the station Sludyanka-2 the railway goes down to the lake and almost meets its blue waves. The train then leaves the lake at 5499 km, and after Boyarskaya station you will be impressed with the last sight at this marvellous lake through age-old trees at 5518 km.

The Pole of Cold and the warmest places.
The “Pole of Cold” of the Trans-Siberian is situated between Mogocha and Skovorodino, these places are doubtlessly the coldest and the most severe place along the route, with the minimal temperature of 62 degrees below zero! Under your feet the earth is frozen to ice – mammoths are found fresh here! The warmest place is strangeluy situated at the outpost of the Trans-Siberian – in Vladivostok, the Far East of Russia. This land is washed by the waters of Amur bay, which milden the harsh winters. Actually the railway goes through continental zones hence you want meet subtropical areas.

The highest point.
The highest point above the sea level is where the Transsiberian railroad bends over the Yablonovy passage at 6110 km between the stations Yablonovaya and Turgutui. It is situated at the height of 1040 km above the sea level. The second highest point is near Kisha station (over 900 meters) and the third highest point is Adrianovsky passage (880 meters) to the west from Baikal lake.

The lowest point.
The railway goes by the coast of the Amursky bay at the Japanese sea for about 39 km, but the point closest to the sea level (4 meters above) is between the stations Amursky bay and Ugolnaya, at km 9252-53.

The most rigid slope.
The most rigid slope along the Trans-Siberian railroad is situated between the stations Adrianovskaya and Slyudyanka-2 where the railway actually goes down to Lake Baikal, and within 30 km the railway goes down by 40 meters. This part of the railway was built in 1947-49.

The greatest plain.
The part of the Trans-Siberian railway without any hill or mountain is situated between Ob’ and Irtysh rivers, more precisely between the stations Moskovka and Novosibirsk-West. The territory in question presents a plain vasting for 600 km aside the route!

The longest bridge.
The longest bridge crossed by the railway along the route was constructed in 1913-16 across the great river Amur. Its length was 2568 meters and included 18 spans, each of them 127 meters long. The works on demolishing the bridge existing from the Tzar times started in 1991 and in 1999 a new bridge was erected. It was constructed to permit train transition of both trains and cars. Its length is 2612 meters. Other longest bridges of the railroad are the Zeya (1102 m), Kama (945 m), Enisey (934 m), Ob’ (820 m) and Irtysh (734 m).

The longest tunnel.
The longest tunnel is located under Amur river (it’s parallel to Amursky bridge) and is 7 km long. It was constructed for strategic purposes in 1937-42. Another great tunnel is that of “Tarmanchukan” located between 8140 and 8142 km, between Arkhara and Obluchie stations.

The greatest stations.
The greatest station was constructed at 3336 km of the Trans Siberian railway near Novosibirsk in 1939-40 just before the Great World War.

Electrification of the Trans-Siberian railroad.
As on 2000, the Trans-Siberian railroad is the longest electrified one in the world. On electrical trains one may reach Bikin in the southern Khabarovsk area from Moscow, although two different forms of current feed are supplied – alternative and constant ones. On board of the only train with alternative current feed one may travel from Mariinsk in the western part of Siberia to Bikin in the Far East. In just 60 years 947 km of the railway were electrified.

The fastest routes with greatest traffic.
The part of the Trans-Siberian where there’s the greatest traffic is that connecting Omsk and Novosibirsk: in 1985 when the economy of the Soviet Union worked at fiull power, this was the railway with most traffic in the world. This part is also among the fastest ones on the railway, crossing steppes and plains on most of its part. Other sections with high average speed are situated in the western part of the Siberian plain: Karbyshevo-1 – Nazyvaevskaya – Yalutogorsk – Volnovka; Shartash – Bogdanovich – Tyumen. There are also other short parts in Khabarovsk region (Birobidzhan – Amur river), to the west from Kirov (Kotelnich-1 – Sharija), near Moscow (Alexandrov – Yaroslavl-Main).

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