Russian Railways

First bricks in the foundation of Russia’s railway were laid in 1834, when Demidovs’ metallurgic works in Nizhny Tagil designed and built Russia’s first steam-engine and a 3.5-km railway. They were created by Cherepanovs, father and son, who were serfs, mechanics and inventors at the same time. After working at Moscow and Saint-Petersburg factories and a few European enterprises, they had a lot of experience. Using it, they built about 20 steam machines for production and transportation purposes. But creation of a steam-engine undoubtedly was to become their greatest triumph. It’s worth mentioning that first cast-iron tracks appeared in Russia as far back as in the 18th century. But they were used only in mineral resource and metallurgical industries.

Top state officials quite often expressed their doubts about economic cost-effectiveness of building railways in the country. But advantages of transport of this kind, as well as considerable profits it was yielding in Europe’s developed countries (e.g., in England), made an impression on the Russian Emperor. On April 15, 1836, Nikolai I issued a decree about building a railway from Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo. 18 months later, on October 30, 1837, the siren by the steam-engine hailed the launch of Russia’s first public railway. A little later the line was extended to Pavlovsk. Its terminus was turned into a “voksal” – one of the country’s most famous pleasure houses. Wealthy people from Saint-Petersburg made special arrangements to come there. It was only much later that it turned into a railway station in its proper sense – station-wide premises for passengers. Thus began the history of Russia’s railways.