Saint Petersburg–Warsaw railway

Warsaw–St. Petersburg Railway
Warsaw–St. Petersburg Railway
	Warsaw Wileńska Station (1862–1915)
Technical
Track gauge	(Warsaw–Hrodna) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in); (Hrodna–Saint Petersburg) 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	0.062
	1,046
I. Kosmowskiej
	Warszawa
	Wschodnia
	Gdańsk
	Główny
	Warszawa Wschodnia
	Goods Yards
	DW 634
	Łodygowa
	DW 625
	Wojska Polskiego
	DW 631
	Piłsudskiego
	Ave.
	449 to Warszawa Rembertów
	9.942
	14.472
Długa
	DW 635
	Niepodległości Ave.
	DW 634
	Norwida
29 to Ostrołęka
	DW 636
	Główna
	DK 62
	Wyszkowska
Zaręby Kościelne
	Mazovia Province
	Podlasie Province
	DK 63
	Nurska
	DW 690
	Szkolna
	DK 66
	Mazowiecka
Mień
	DW 681
	Brańska
	177.305
	882
Białystok
Narew
	DW 682
	Kościelna
	to
	Bartoszyce
	515
	516
	Białystok
	Starosielce
	DW 669
	Trasa Niepodległości
	177.305
	882.000
	DW 676
	Solidarności
	Avenue

Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway (Russian: Санкт-Петербурго-Варшавская железная дорога, Sankt-Peterburgo–Varshavskaya zheleznaya doroga) is a 1,333 km (828 mi) long and partly defunct railway line between Saint Petersburg and Warsaw, built in the 19th century by the Russian Empire to connect Russia with Central Europe.

In 1851 the Tsarist Government of Russia made a decision to build the St. Petersburg–Warsaw railway line. It was built to Russian gauge. Construction was completed in 1862. At the time of opening the entire railway line was within the Russian Empire: Warsaw was under a Russian partition of Poland. Due to territorial changes, the line now lies within five countries and crosses the eastern border of the European Union three times. Therefore, no passenger trains follow the entire route. Passenger trains between Saint Petersburg and Warsaw used to travel through Brest instead and a new line called Rail Baltica is under development to improve the direct connection between Poland and Lithuania.

History

Construction

In February 1851, the Russian Emperor Nicholas I signed a decree on conducting surveys for the construction of a railway line between Saint Petersburg, then capital of the Russian Empire, and Warsaw, the administrative centre of Russian Poland. In November 1851, the Emperor signed the order for the construction of the railway line, using state funds from the Imperial Russian Government.^[1] Construction began in 1852 under the supervision of the Russian engineer Eduard Gerstfeld with the Polish railway engineer Stanisław Kierbedź as deputy chief of construction.^[2]

The Warsaw station in Saint Petersburg on a pre-1917 photo.

The first section of the railway with a length of 41 versts (45 km (28 mi)) was completed between Saint Petersburg and the residential city of Gatchina in 1853, with daily scheduled train service starting on 31 October 1853.^[3] However, with the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, the work on other sections, where only earthworks had begun, was interrupted, as the war exhausted state funds..^[4]

After the disastrous outcome of the Crimean War, which was considered as an effect of the backwardness of the Russian transport system, the Russian government abandoned its protectionist policy and decided to try to attract foreign capital. On 26 January 1857, the Main Society of Russian Railways (Russian: Главное общество российских железных дорог), of which the main capital was French, was founded. The construction work was transferred to the newly formed society. On 19 July 1858 the first train arrived in Pskov.^[5]

In May 1858, construction started near Vilnius on the first section of 19 kilometers. On 1 May 1859 the ground works started along the entire route Daugavpils–Vilnius–Lentvaris–Kaunas–Kybartai. The end of summer of 1860 marked the end of the construction of the Ostrov-Daugavpils–Vilnius railway. The first train from Daugavpils arrived in Vilnius on 16 September 1860. In 1861, this branch was completed to the Prussian border, and between Verzhbolovo Station in Kybartai and Eydtkuhnen in Prussia (now Chernyshevskoye in Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) the first junction between Russian gauge and standard gauge railway systems was built, with rails in both gauges between the border stations.

The construction of the section from Lentvaris to Warsaw was completed on 15 December 1862.

The first locomotives for the St. Petersburg–Warsaw railway were bought in England, France, and Belgium. They were “G” class 0-6-0s with two cylinders. They were produced in Manchester in 1857, in Paris in 1860, and in Belgium in 1862. Their weight was 30–32 tons.

Later development

The portion between Vilnius and Warsaw was rebuilt in the standard gauge in the 1920s when that area belonged to Poland.

The railway was partly destroyed during both world wars.

Present

A 224km section of the line between Zielonka, some 13km north-east of Warsaw and Kuźnica Białostocka on the Polish-Belarusian border, some 54km north-east Białystok is today designated by the Polish National Railways PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe as PKP rail line 6. It is one of the country's major trunk lines. Since 2014 the line is being modernized to ultimately allow passenger trains to run at 200 km/h (125 mph) and freight trains at 120 km/h (75 mph), works include renewal of tracks and overhead lines, replacing level crossings with tunnels or overpasses and installation of ETCS level 2.^[6] The line is electrified along its entire length, and has two tracks up to Białystok.

In Zielonka a 9km long line built in 1933, today designated PKP rail line 449 branches of from the former Warsaw-Sankt Petersburg railway south to the former Warsaw–Terespol railway and through it to the Warsaw Cross-City Line and the other trunk lines of the Warsaw Railway Junction. The original route continues south-west as PKP rail line 21 terminating at the Warszawa Wileńska station in Warsaw Praga district, without reaching the city center. This segment is used only for local passenger traffic in the Warsaw metropolitan area, however due to large passenger volumes it is designated as a primary line. Line 21 also extends north-east from Zielonka to Wołomin along line 6, giving a total of four tracks on this segment.

From Białystok to Kuźnica Białostocka line 6 has only one track, which shortly before the Polish-Belarusian border is joined by a broad gauge track designated PKP rail line 57, with several transshipment facilities along its route. Both lines extend across the border and continue from Bruzhi into Hrodna, with the standard gauge line electrified at 3 kV DC which is commonly used by the Polish railways, rather than 25 kV AC used on the two Belarusian trunk lines. This allows Polish trains to reach Hrodna without the need for time consuming break of gauge operations and replacing traction power, and before 2020 Polish companies offered regular connections there.

From Hrodna however only the broad gauge track continues to Uzbieraž on the Belarusian–Lithuanian border. The track from the border to Marcinkonys in Lithuania has been dismantled at some point at the beginning of the 21st century, from Marcinkonys to Vilnius and further north-east the line remains in use for local regional traffic, although there have been some sporadic connections between Vilnius and Daugavpils.

Trains traveling between Warsaw and Vilnius today have to take a long detour through Ełk and Kaunas. It appears extremely unlikely a direct connection through Hrodna might be restored in the foreseeable future. Instead a project called Rail Baltica is underway to upgrade existing infrastructure and build new standard gauge lines in order to improve the rail connection from Poland to Lithuania, Latvia, further to Estonia and eventually to Finland, running entirely within EU territory.

References

^ Westwood 1964, p. 38.
^ Orłowski, Bolesław, ed. (1986). Słownik polskich pionierów techniki [Dictionary of Polish Technology Pioneers] (in Polish). Katowice: Wydawnictwo „Śląsk”. pp. 96–97. ISBN 83-216-0339-4.
^ "газета «Северная Пчела»" (in Russian). No. 245. 2 November 1853.
^ Kosakovskis 1975, p. 36.
^ "Put' k Varshave" Путь к Варшабе [Route to Warsaw] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
^ "O inwestycji". PKP PLK Rail Baltica (in Polish).

Sources

"Line Riga–Valka celebrates 120 years". "Latvijas dzelzceļš". Latvian State Railways. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2009. In 1907 Baltic Railway was merged with St.Petersburg–Warsaw Railway and was made the Northwest Railways
Kosakovskis, Gerasimas (1975). Железные дороги Литвы [Railways of Lithuania] (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Mokslas.
Rakov, V. A. (Vitaliĭ Aleksandrovich) (1995). Lokomotivy otechestvennykh zheleznykh dorog 1845-1955 Локомотивы отечественных железных дорог 1845-1955 [National railways locomotives 1845–1955] (in Russian). Moscow: Transport. ISBN 5-277-00821-7.
Vergara, Juan Camilo (2015). La Grande Société des Chemins de Fer Russes (1856-1862) : coopération ferroviaire franco-russe, administration de l'espace impérial et réformes de l'Etat en Russie au XIXe siècle [The Main Russian Railway Company (1856-1862) : Franco-Russian railway cooperation, administration of the imperial space and state reforms in Russia in the 19th century] (Doctorate thesis) (in French). Paris: École des hautes études en sciences sociales.
Westwood, J. N. (1964). A History of Russian Railways. London: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-0043850374. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

External links

Media related to Saint Petersburg–Warsaw railway at Wikimedia Commons

[FOOTNOTEWestwood196438-1] Westwood 1964, p. 38.

[2] Orłowski, Bolesław, ed. (1986). Słownik polskich pionierów techniki [Dictionary of Polish Technology Pioneers] (in Polish). Katowice: Wydawnictwo „Śląsk”. pp. 96–97. ISBN 83-216-0339-4.

[3] "газета «Северная Пчела»" (in Russian). No. 245. 2 November 1853.

[FOOTNOTEKosakovskis197536-4] Kosakovskis 1975, p. 36.

[5] "Put' k Varshave" Путь к Варшабе [Route to Warsaw] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2011.

[6] "O inwestycji". PKP PLK Rail Baltica (in Polish).

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