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52-630: There are many settlements in the river valley. The Baikal Amur Mainline follows and crosses the Kirenga between Magistralny and Ulkan . It is a right tributary of the Lena which flows north between the upper Lena and Lake Baikal . The Kirenga begins in the Baikal Mountains 6 kilometres (4 mi) west of Lake Baikal, a few dozen kilometres north of the source of the Lena. The Kirenga marks

104-634: A committee to recommend technical standards for the building of Russia's first major railway. The team included devotees of Franz Anton von Gerstner , who pushed to continue the Tsarskoye Selo gauge, and engineer Pavel Melnikov and his consultant George Washington Whistler , a prominent American railway engineer. Whistler recommended 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) on the basis that it was cheaper to construct than 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) and cheaper to maintain than 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). His advice won over

156-800: A few out of more than sixty tram systems in Russia are not broad gauge: 1,000 mm in Kaliningrad and Pyatigorsk , 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) in Rostov-on-Don . There are two tram systems in and around Yevpatoria that use 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge. Finland's Helsinki trams and Latvia's Liepāja trams use 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ). Estonia's Tallinn trams use similar 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ). Warsaw's tramway system, constructed with 1525 mm gauge,

208-639: A number of branch lines have been built or are under construction. In January 2012 the Russian mining company Mechel completed the construction of the 320-kilometre-long branch line to Elginskoye, branching from the BAM station Ulak, west of the Zeya River crossing in northwestern Amur Oblast . The branch line connects the Elginskoye coal mine to the Russian railroad network. Currently under discussion

260-766: A railway track gauge of 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) first appeared in the United Kingdom and the United States. This gauge became commonly known as " Russian gauge ", because the government of the Russian Empire chose it in 1843. Former areas and states of the Empire (such as Finland ) have inherited this standard. However in 1970, Soviet Railways re-defined the gauge as 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ). With about 225,000 km (140,000 mi) of track, 1,520 mm

312-712: A result of thawing permafrost. The BAM departs from the Trans-Siberian railway at Tayshet , then crosses the Angara River at Bratsk and the Lena River at Ust-Kut , proceeds past Severobaikalsk at the northern tip of Lake Baikal , past Tynda and Khani , crosses the Amur River at Komsomolsk-on-Amur and finally reaches the Pacific Ocean at Sovetskaya Gavan . There are 21 tunnels along

364-530: A short time during the war. This formed a break of gauge between Changchun and Kuancheng , the station just to the north of Changchun, still in Russian hands, until the rest of the former Chinese Eastern Railway was converted to standard gauge, probably in the 1930s. Unlike in South Manchuria , the Soviet Union's reconquest of southern Sakhalin from Japan did not result in regauging of

416-607: A shortcut for the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok . The railway's southern branch, from Harbin via Changchun to Lüshun , used Russian gauge. As a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, its southernmost section from Changchun to Lüshun was lost to the Japanese, who promptly regauged it to standard gauge , after using the narrow 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) for

468-452: A very poor state, with collapsed bridges, dangerous river crossings, severe potholes and "unrelenting energy-sapping bogs". The narrow, dilapidated Vitim River Bridge (aka Kuandinsky Bridge) that crosses the Vitim river has attracted attention since its first appearance on social media in 2009. The passage of the bridge is forbidden since 2016 but remains a common road for individuals to reach

520-512: Is 48 hours. Travel time from Tynda to Komsomolsk-on-Amur is 36 hours. Travel time from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Sovetskaya Gavan is 13 hours. There are ten tunnels along the BAM railway, totaling 30 kilometres (19 miles) of route. They include: These are among the longest tunnels in Russia. In addition, the route crosses 11 full-flowing rivers (including the Lena , Amur , Zeya , Vitim , Olyokma , Selemdzha and Bureya ). In total, 2230 large and small bridges were built on it. The route of

572-636: Is a 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ) broad-gauge railway line in Russia . Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East , the 4,324 km (2,687 mi)-long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 480 miles) north of and parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway . The Soviet Union built the BAM as a strategic alternative route to the Trans–Siberian Railway, seen as vulnerable especially along

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624-513: Is the construction of a bridge or tunnel under the Strait of Tartary to Sakhalin Island , with the possibility of the further construction of a bridge or tunnel from Sakhalin to Japan . A tunnel from the mainland to Sakhalin was previously begun under Joseph Stalin , but was abandoned after his death. A second attempt in 2003 was also postponed during construction. Current economic conditions make

676-640: Is the second-most common gauge in the world, after 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge . In 1748, the Wylam waggonway was built to a 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge for the shipment of coal from Wylam to Lemington down the River Tyne . In 1839, the Eastern Counties Railway was constructed. In 1840, the Northern and Eastern Railway

728-457: The 19-kilometre (12 mi) section east of Komsomolsk which was completed in 1974. In April 2008 the state-owned Bamtonnelstroy corporation started work on the new 3.91-kilometre (2.43 mi) single-track Kuznetsovsky Tunnel to bypass an older tunnel built in 1943–1945. It was opened in December 2012. The old tunnel had difficult gradients; building the new tunnel relieved a bottleneck on

780-566: The AYaM connecting the Trans-Siberian at Bamovskaya with the BAM at Tynda is also referred to as the "Little BAM". During the winter the passenger trains go from Moscow past Tayshet and Tynda to Neryungri and Tommot and there are also a daily trains from Tynda to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Sovetskaya Gavan on the Pacific Ocean via Vanino ( "Vladivostok-Sovetskaya Gavan" train No.351Э). Travel time from Tayshet to Tynda

832-521: The BAM as a Komsomol shock construction project , created the central Komsomol headquarters of BAM construction, and appointed Dmitry Filippov the chief of the headquarters. By the end of 1974, perhaps 50,000 young people of the 156,000 young people who applied had moved to the BAM service area. In 1975 and 1976, 28 new settlements were inaugurated and 70 new bridges, including the Amur and Lena bridges, were erected. And while 110 miles (180 km) of track

884-682: The BAM as a single operational body was dissolved, with the western section from Tayshet to Khani becoming the East Siberian Railway and the rest transferred to the management of the Far Eastern Railway . During the Russo-Ukrainian War , on November 30, 2023, an explosion occurred in the Severomuysky Tunnel . A second explosion happened soon thereafter on the bypass used as backup for

936-611: The BAM would be one of the two major projects in the Tenth Five Year Plan (1976–80). He famously stated that "BAM will be constructed with clean hands only!" and firmly rejected the suggestion to again use prison labor . A few weeks later, he challenged the Young Communist League ( Komsomol ) to join in "the construction project of the century". The 17th Komsomol congress (held in April 1974) announced

988-411: The BAM. The 59.8 bn roubles (about $ 1.93 bn) project included 20 kilometres (12 mi) of new track. In 2010, Yakunin had said, the stretch between Komsomolsk and Sovetskaya Gavan was the weakest link on the BAM, which, he said, could be carrying 100 million tons of freight a year in 2050. Running approximately alongside the railway track is the BAM road, a railway service track. It is said to be in

1040-557: The Sakhalin port of Kholmsk . In 2004 and 2008 plans were put forward to convert it to the Russian gauge. The conversion was completed in 2019. There were proposals in 2013 for north-south and east-west lines in Afghanistan, with construction to start in 2013. The Panama Canal Railway , first constructed in ca. 1850, was built in 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge. During canal construction (1904–1914), this same gauge

1092-544: The Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia redefined its track gauge to 1,524 mm , to match Finland's gauge. The redefinition did not mean that all the railways in Estonia were changed immediately. It was more a rule change, so that all renovated old tracks and new railways would be constructed in 1,524 mm gauge from then on. (See Track gauge in Estonia .) Finland allows its gauge to be 1,520–1,529 mm on first class lines (classes 1AA and 1A, speed 220–160 km/h). If

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1144-734: The Tsar. At the time, questions of continuity with the European network did not arise. By the time difficulties arose in connecting the Prussian railroads to the Russian ones in Warsaw in the 1850s, it was too late to change. A persistent myth holds that Imperial Russia chose a gauge broader than standard gauge for military reasons, namely to prevent potential invaders from using the rail system. The Russian military recognized as early as 1841 that operations to disrupt railway track did not depend on

1196-534: The bridge over the River Neva was built in 1913. Russian trains could not have run on Finnish tracks, because the Finnish loading gauge was narrower, until the connection was made and the Finnish structure gauge was widened. In the late 1960s the gauge was redefined to 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ) in the Soviet Union. At the same time the tolerances were tightened. As

1248-661: The eastern limit of the Lena-Angara Plateau . The river flows along the Cis-Baikal Depression, limited by the Akitkan Range to the east. Finally it joins the Lena at the town of Kirensk . The Kirenga is fed mainly by rain. It freezes up in late October to early November and stays under the ice until late April to May. Its main tributaries are the Ulkan , Minya , Okunayka and Kutima from

1300-450: The finalisation of plans for upgrading the BAM for diesel or electric instead of steam traction, and for the heavier axle-loads of eight-axle oil tankers to carry new-found oil from Western Siberia. The upgrading required 25 years and 3,000 surveyors and designers, although much of the redesign work (particularly as regards the central section) took place between 1967 and 1974. In March 1974, Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev proposed that

1352-595: The gauge of 5 ft or 1,520 mm, include: Short sections of Russian or 5 ft gauge extend into Poland , eastern Slovakia , Sweden (at the Finnish border at Haparanda ), and northern Afghanistan . There is an approximately 150 km long section in Hungary in the Záhony logistics area close to the Ukrainian border. Following renovations in 2014, a 32 km section of dual Standard /Russian gauge

1404-575: The gauge, and should instead focus on destroying bridges and tunnels . However, in both World Wars the break of gauge did pose some amount of obstacle to the invading Germans. The 5-foot gauge became the standard in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. Russian engineers used it on the Chinese Eastern Railway , built in the closing years of the 19th century across the Northeastern China entry to provide

1456-444: The line, with a total length of 47 km (29 mi). There are also more than 4,200 bridges, with a total length of over 400 kilometres (250 mi). Of the whole route, only the western Tayshet- Taksimo sector of 1,469 km (913 mi) is electrified. The route is largely single-track, although the reservation is wide enough for double-tracking for its full length, in the case of eventual duplication. The unusual thing about

1508-599: The locks ( mules ) still use the 5 ft gauge that was laid during canal construction. The first rail line in Finland was opened in January 1862. As Finland was then the Grand Duchy of Finland , an autonomous state ruled in personal union by Imperial Russia where railways were also built to the (5 ft) broad track gauge of 1,524 mm ( 5 ft ). However the railway systems were not connected until

1560-1336: The maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads, is larger for Russian gauge. This means that if a standard gauge railway, in Europe, is adapted for dual gauge , bridges must be rebuilt, double tracks must be placed further apart and the overhead wire must be raised. Or there must be restrictions on permitted rolling stock, which would restrict the benefit of such a railway. Dual gauge needs more width than single gauge. For double stacking on Russian gauge tracks, maximum height shall be 6.15 or 6.4 m (20 ft 2 in or 21 ft 0 in) above rails. For standard gauge railways, double stacking maximum height shall be 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in). For Indian gauge railways, double stacking maximum height shall be 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in), and minimum overhead wiring height shall be 6.5 or 6.75 m (21 ft 4 in or 22 ft 2 in) above rails. Minimum overhead wiring height for double stacking, standard gauge railways shall be 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in), and Indian gauge railways shall be 7.45 m (24 ft 5 in) above rails, respectively. This would apply to Russia and Europe (or North America), rather than to Russia and China (or Iran). The primary countries currently using

1612-429: The overhead wires on the Russian gauge tracks (with well cars to make 6.15m height) are proposed. Tayshet to Lake Baikal 1,064 kilometres (661 mi): Lake Baikal to Tynda 1,300 kilometres (810 mi): valley Tynda to Komsomolsk 1,473 kilometres (915 mi): Komsomolsk to Sovetskaya Gavan 486 kilometres (302 mi): This section was completed by prisoners during World War II , except for

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1664-583: The present-day BAM first came under consideration in the 1880s as an option for the eastern section of the planned Trans-Siberian railway. In the 1930s, labor-camp inmates, in particular from the Bamlag camp of the Gulag system, built the section from Tayshet to Bratsk . In a confusing transfer of names, the label BAM applied from 1933 to 1935 to the project to double-track the Trans-Siberian east of Lake Baikal, constructed largely using forced labor. 1945 saw

1716-607: The railway is that it is electrified with a 27.5 kV, 50 Hz catenary minimum height at 6.5 metres (21 ft 4 in) above top of the rails to suit double-stacking under the overhead wires on the Russian gauge tracks, which requires rolling stock to be modified for service on the railway. At Tynda the route is crossed by the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline , which runs north to Neryungri and Tommot , with an extension to Nizhny Bestyakh opened in 2019. The original section of

1768-533: The railway system. Southern Sakhalin has continued with the original Japanese 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) gauge simultaneously with the Russian gauge railway, constructed in the northern part of the island in 1930-1932 (Moskalvo-Okha). The railway has no fixed connection with the mainland. Before 2019, rail cars coming from the mainland port of Vanino on the Vanino-Kholmsk train ferry , operating since 1973, had to have their bogies changed in

1820-526: The right, as well as the Khanda from the left. This Irkutsk Oblast location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Siberia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Baikal Amur Mainline The Baikal–Amur Mainline ( Russian : Байкало-Амурская магистраль , БАМ , Baikalo-Amurskaya magistral' , BAM )

1872-462: The rolling stock's tolerance is kept within certain limits, through running between 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ) railways and Finnish 1,524 mm ( 5 ft ) railways is allowed. Since both 1,520 and 1,524 mm tolerances overlap, the difference is negligible. The international high-speed Allegro 's gauge between Helsinki and St. Petersburg was specified as 1,522 mm. The loading gauge , which defines

1924-489: The route, but today many of these places are deserted ghost towns and unemployment in the area is high. The building of the BAM has also been criticised for its complete lack of environmental protection. When the Soviet Union was dissolved , numerous mining and industrial projects in the region were cancelled and the BAM was greatly underutilized until the late 1990s, running at a large operational deficit. In 1996,

1976-498: The running gear ( wheelsets ) of the rolling stock remained unaltered, the result was an increased speed and stability. The conversion took place between 1970 and the beginning of the 1990s. In Finland, the Finnish State Railways kept the original definition of 1,524 mm ( 5 ft ), even though they also have tightened the tolerances in a similar way, but to a higher level. After its independence from

2028-594: The second railway in the Russian Empire , the Warsaw–Vienna railway in Congress Poland . It was a 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge , with the express intention of allowing through-freight trains into Austria-Hungary . The modern Russian railway network solidified around the Saint Petersburg–Moscow railway , built in 1842. There, the Tsar established

2080-589: The sections close to the border with China . The BAM cost $ 14 billion, and it was built with special, durable tracks since much of it ran over permafrost . Due to the severe terrain, weather, length and cost, Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev described BAM in 1974 as "the construction project of the century". If the permafrost layer that supports the BAM railway line were to melt, the railway would collapse and sink into peat bog layers that cannot bear its weight. In 2016 and 2018 there were reports about climate change and damage to buildings and infrastructure as

2132-511: The short-term completion of the tunnel doubtful, although Russian president Dmitry Medvedev announced in November 2008 his support for a revival of this project. The BAM now also attracts the interest of Western railway enthusiasts, with some tourist activity on the line. Also, the BAM itself extension from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Magadan (Okhotsk coastal route), full length electrification, full length track doubling, and double-stacking under

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2184-439: The town of Koanda. The road is passable only by the most extreme off-road vehicles and adventure motorcycles . In 2009, a group of three experienced motorcycle riders took a whole month to travel from Komsomolsk (in the east) to Lake Baikal . Main belt asteroid 2031 BAM , discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh , is named in honor of the builders of the BAM. Russian gauge Railways with

2236-414: The tunnel. The Security Service of Ukraine claimed responsibility for the explosions. A major improvement was the opening of the 15.34-kilometre (9.53 mi) Severomuysky Tunnel on 5 December 2003. It is up to 1.5 kilometres (nearly 1 mile) deep. Construction took 27 years to complete. Prior to this, the corresponding route segment was 54 km (34 mi) long, with heavy slopes necessitating

2288-474: The use of auxiliary bank engine locomotives. With the resources boom of recent years and improving economic conditions in Russia, use of the line is increasing. Plans exist for the development of mining areas such as Udokanskoye and Chineyskoye near Novaya Chara , as well as one of Eurasia 's largest coal deposits at Elginskoye (Elga) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). In connection with this,

2340-504: Was a 6 ft ( 1,829 mm ) gauge, 17 km long experimental line connecting Saint Petersburg with Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk . The choice of gauge was influenced by Brunel 's Great Western Railway which used 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ). The Tsarskoye Selo railway's success proved that a larger gauge could be viable for railways isolated from the extant 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge Western European network. In 1840, work started on

2392-621: Was a major disadvantage to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . In 1886, when around 11,500 miles (18,500 km) of 5 ft gauge track existed in the United States, almost all of the railroads using that gauge were converted to 4 ft 9 in ( 1,448 mm ), the gauge then used by the Pennsylvania Railroad . In 1837, the first railway built in Russia

2444-696: Was built. In 1844, both lines were converted to 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge . In 1903, the East Hill Cliff Railway , a funicular , was opened. In 1827, Horatio Allen , the chief engineer of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company , prescribed the usage of 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) gauge. Many other railroads in the Southern United States adopted this gauge. The presence of several distinct gauges

2496-467: Was chosen for both construction traffic, canal operating services along the quays, and the newly routed commercial cross-isthmus railway. In 2000 the gauge for the commercial parallel railway was changed to 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) to use standard gauge equipment. The original gauge was chosen under the influence of the pre-conversion southern United States railway companies. The electric manoeuvering locomotives along

2548-444: Was fully operational for civilians, due to military reasons. The BAM was again declared complete in 1991. By then, the total cost to build the line was US$ 14 billion ( RU₽ 106 trillion ). Beginning in the mid-1980s, the BAM project attracted increasing criticism for having been poorly planned. Infrastructure and basic services like running water were often not in place when workers arrived. At least 60 boomtowns developed along

2600-1101: Was installed between Tumangang and Rajin stations in North Korea. The most western 1,520 mm gauge railway is the Polish LHS ( Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa ) from the Ukrainian border to the eastern end of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region . Although broad gauge is quite rare on lighter railways and street tramways worldwide, almost all tramways in the former USSR are broad gauge (according to terminology in use in these countries, gauges narrower than 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ) are considered to be narrow). Many tramway networks initially built to narrow gauges ( 750 mm or 2 ft  5 + 1 ⁄ 2  in or 1,000 mm or 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in metre gauge ) were converted to broad gauge. As of 2015, only

2652-408: Was laid, the track-laying rate would have needed to nearly triple to meet the 1983 deadline. In September 1984, a " golden spike " was hammered into place, connecting the eastern and western sections of the BAM. The Western media was not invited to attend this historic event as Soviet officials did not want any comments about the line's operational status. In reality, only one third of the BAM's track

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2704-548: Was regauged to 1435 mm during post-WWII reconstruction. Tampere tramway , built in 2021, uses 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). Underground urban rapid transit systems in the former USSR, like the Moscow Metro , Saint Petersburg Metro , Kyiv Metro and Yerevan Metro use Russian gauge ( 1,520 mm ). Outside the former USSR, the Helsinki Metro in Finland that utilizes

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