October Railroad, the

Subject / Topography
OCTOBER RAILROAD, Federal State Unitary Enterprise. Track length: over 10,000 km (in 2003, the operative length of the tracks was 10,143 km, and the total length, 13,168.8 km). Extends across SPb and Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Moscow, Vologda, and Murmansk Oblasts, and the Republic of Karelia. Connects the sea ports of St. Petersburg, Vyborg, Murmansk, and Kandalaksha, and ports of the North-Western River Shipping Co. Largest junction: SPb. In 2003, O. R. comprised 750 stations, 25 locomotive depots, 15 freight car depots, and 5 passenger car depots. Established by Order No. 1313 of the People’s Commissariat of Railways dated 27 February 1923, according to which, the Nikolayevskaya Railroad (Petrograd-Moscow line) was renamed as the October Railroad. P. E. Bezrukhikh became the first Chairman of the Board of O. R. (1923-28). Gradually, separate railway lines of Russia’s North-West were included in O. R. In 1940-42 and 1947-53, an independent Leningrad Railroad functioned (L. – Narva, L. – Pytalovo, L. – Suschevo, L. – Mga, L – Ust-Luga lines.) In 1959, after O. R. took over the Kirovskaya Railroad (it included the lines in Leningrad Oblast east of Mga, in Karelia, and in Murmansk Oblast), all the tracks in Leningrad Oblast were subordinated to O. R. The current area of O. R. was formed in 1961. The railway construction in Leningrad Oblast and SPb started in the 1830s. In 1837, Russia’s first railway was opened to connect SPb and Tsarskoye Selo; in 1838 it was extended to Pavlovsk. Next, the SPb – Moscow line (built in 1843-51); Warsaw RW (1853, SPb – Gatchina – Luga); Peterhof RW (1857); Finland RW (1870, SPb – Vyborg – Rihimäki); Baltic RW (1870, Gatchina – Narva); Irinovskaya RW (1892); Sestroretsk RW (1894), and SPb – Mga – Zvanka (Volkhov) – Vologda line (1906) were constructed. In Vyborg Province of the Grand Principality of Finland, the following branches were constructed: Vyborg-Antrea (Svetogorsk) – Imatra (1892), Antrea-Hiitola-Sortavala (1893), Tyrisevä (Ushkovo) – Koivisto (Primorsk) (1916), Hiitola-Rautu (Sosnovo) (1917). In 1914, a railway bridge across the Neva was built. In the 1920s –1930s, railways were built for service of military objects in border areas: the Oranienbaum – Kotly – Weimarn (1926) and Kotly – Ust-Luga (1931) branches; the Ust-Luga-Kurgalsky Peninsula section (non-extant), Weimarn-Slantsi (1940), Weimarn – Chudovo – Budogosch (non-extant.) Numerous narrow-gage railways for service of peateries were constructed. In 1933, the Leningrad – Ligovo – Oranienbaum section was electrified, in 1935, Ligovo – Krasnoye Selo, in 1936, Krasnoye Selo – Taitsi, в 1937 – Taitsi –Gatchina-Baltiyskaya. The electrification is going on today. In 1996, the Volkhovstroy-Lodeynoye Pole section was electrified; in 2000, Volkhovstroy-Tikhvin, in 2001, Tikhvin-Babaevo. Some tracks in the western districts of Leningrad Oblast (Gatchina-Ivangorod, Weimarn – Slantsi – Gdov, Weimarn – Kalische) remain unelectrified. During WWII, the O. R. personnel participated in supplying the besieged Leningrad. In the winter of 1941-42, the railway branch to the port in Kobona Village was constructed (Voibokalo – Kobona – Kosa, operated until 1943.) After the breach of the siege in 1943, the Polyani-Petrokrepost branch across the Neva was built for 17 days, to be named “The Victory Road” (operated until March 1944.) In 2003, O. R. managed 41 social and cultural facilities in several regions of Russia (incl. “Melnichny Ruchey” preventive treatment sanatorium in Vsevolozhsk District.) The Central Museum of O. R. is located in SPb (opened in 1979), and the museum “The Victory Road” is located at Petrokrepost Station, Leningrad Oblast, and the museum “Kobona: The Load of Life” in Kobona Village, Leningrad Oblast. The “Oktyabrskaya Magistral” newspaper has been published since 1933. Chistyakov, Anton Yuryevich
Bezrukikh, Pavel Yefimovich
Neighbouring Territories/Karelian Republic
Leningrad Oblast, the/Kirovsk District/Kobona Village
Topographical landmarks/Neva River, the
Neighbouring Territories/Novgorod Oblast, the
Neighbouring Territories/Pskov Oblast, the
Neighbouring Territories/Tver Oblast, the
Neighbouring Territories/Vologda Oblast, the
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vsevolozhsk District
Магистраль имени Октября. М., 1990
Исаченко Г. А. «Окно в Европу»: История и ландшафты. СПб., 1998, С. 351-361
От Царскосельской до Октябрьской: История. Развитие. Перспективы. СПб., 2003., С. 351-361
"Kobona: the Road of Life", a museum
"Octyabrskaya Magistral" ("The October railway"), a newspaper
"The Way of Victory", a museum