Transsiberian Railroad

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Transsib, Trans-Siberian way (modern names) or Great Siberian Way (historical name) is an excellent equipped rail-track through the all continent connecting European Russia, its largest industrial areas and the capital Moscow with its middle (Siberia) and eastern (Far East) areas. Some people think that it's necessary to explain the term "Transsib" as the way connecting Ural and Far East and literally passing "via" Siberia (Trans-Siberian). But it doesn't reflect true meaning of the railway. The name was given by English nicknamed the way not as "Great Siberian Way" as literally translation from Russian was to be but as "Trans-Siberian Railway" which later instilled and took root in speech.
Limited interpretation of the term "Transsib" supposes that we speak about the main passenger way Moscow – Yaroslavl – Yekaterinburg – Omsk – Irkutsk – Chita – Vladivostok.

Actual length of Trans-Siberian railway by the main passenger way (from Moscow to Vladivostok) is 9288,2 km and according to this indicator it is the longest railway on the planet.

Today the first point of Transsib is Yaroslavskiy railway in Moscow, and the end point is Vladivostok railway.

But it wasn't always like this: till the middle of the twenties the gateway to Siberia and to the Far East was Kazanskiy (then Ryazanskiy) railway and in the beginning of 20 century it was Kursko-Nizhegorodskiy (now Kurskiy) railway in Moscow. Before the revolution in 1917 the beginning point of Great Siberian Way was Moscovskiy railway in St-Petersburg.

The actual beginning of construction started in the beginning of March 1891 when construction of section Miass – Chelyabinsk began. Regular communication between capital of the empire St-Petersburg and the Pacific Ocean Russian ports Vladivostok and Dalni by railway was established in July 1903. The end of construction on Russian Empire territory was October 5 (18), 1916.

From 1956 Transsib route is as follows: Moscow-Yaroslavskaya – Yaroslavl-Main – Danilov – Bui – Shar'ya – Kirov – Balezino – Perm-2 – Sverdlovsk-Passenger (Yekaterinburg) – Tyumen – Nazyvaevskaya – Omsk-Passenger – Barabinsk – Novosibirsk-Main – Mariinsk – Achinsk-1 – Krasnoyarsk – Ilanskaya – Taishet – Nizhneudinsk – Zima – Irkutsk-Passenger – Slyudyanka-1 – Ulan-Ude – Petrovskiy Zavod – Chita-2 – Karymskaya – Chernyshevsk-Zabaikalskiy – Mogocha – Skovorodino – Belogorsk – Arkhara – Khabarovsk-1 – Vyazemskaya – Ruzhino – Ussuriisk – Vladivostok. This is the main passenger way of Transsib. Finally it was formed in the beginning of the thirties.

Transsib crosses 16 large rivers: Volga, Vyatka, Kama, Tobol, Irtysh, Ob, Tom, Chulym, Yenisei, Oka, Selenga, Zeya, Bureya, Amur, Khor, Ussuri; over 207 km it passes along Baikal lake and over 39 km by the shore of Amursky Bay of Japanese Sea.

Transsib passes through the territories of 13 regions, 4 territories, 2 republics, 1 autonomous region and 1 autonomous district of Russian Federation and 87 cities are situated at it, among them are: Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, etc.

Moscow is a capital of the Russian Federation; it was founded in 1147 and is situated on the Moscow River. It is the largest financial centre in Russia and the largest in the country and one of the most significant political, industrial, scientific and cultural centers in the world. There are more than 60 professional theatres including Bolshoy Theatre and Maly Theatre, 74 museums and picture galleries (Historical Museum, Diamond Fund, The State Tret'yakov Gallery).

Yekaterinburg – the center of Sverdlovsk region of the RF, was founded in 1723. Yekaterinburg extends from west to east for 15 km, from north to south for 26 km. Iset River is dividing the city into west and east parts. There are numerous buildings of the 18 – the beginning of the 19 centuries in classicism style in Yekaterinburg: Mining office (1737-39, was reconstructed in 1833-35 by the project of architect M. P. Malakhov), Art Gallery (was founded in 1936), etc.

Tyumen – the center of Tyumen region of the RF, was founded in 1586. It is the first Russian city in Siberia and one of the largest financial centres of Russia.

Omsk – the center of Omsk region of the RF, the large west city of Siberian federal region. It was founded in 1716 as frontier fortress for protection from nomad raids and as a strong point for further developing of Siberia by the Russians. Omsk is a large scientific and educational center, the city with rich cultural traditions. It is famous for its points of interest, such as Academic theatre, Theatre of Drama, Music Theatre, Circus, F. M Dostoevsky museum of regional studies (in 1850-54 in Omsk prison the writer served time), the Art Gallery named by M.A.Vrubel.

Novosibirsk – was founded in 1893. There is the largest Theatre of opera and ballet in Russia, Philharmonic Society, Circus, Picture Gallery, the Cathedral (1897), etc.

Krasnoyarsk was founded in 1628. It is an important industrial center of East Siberia. There are Theatre of opera and ballet, Theater of Drama, Big and Small concert halls, Circus, Philharmonic Society, the Museum of regional studies with some branches, Cultural-historical center, House-museum of V. I. Lenin, etc.

Vladivostok – an important industrial center and a base of fishery and getting of sea foods, is located along the eastern coastline of Amur bay of the Japan Sea; it was founded in 1860. There is Oceanarium, Theatre of Drama, Theatre of Puppet show, Philharmonic Society, different museums, Picture Gallery. There is a mud and seaside health resort Sadgorod at a distance of 26 km from Vladivostok.