Kirov Railway

Railway between Murmansk on theArctic Oceanand Saint Petersburg on theBaltic Sea

Kirov Railway
planned extension Ponoi Ostrovnoi Kelvy Revda Murmansk Oktyabrski Kola Umba to Nikel & Kirkenes Koashva Vykhodnoy Kirovsk Olenegorsk Imandra Titan Apatity Afrikanda to Konosha Pinozero Obozerskaya Kandalaksha to Arkhangelsk to Kemijärvi Bolshaya Kyama Poyakonda Nimenga to Pyaozero Malenga Louhi Kolezhma Kem Virma Belomorsk Vyg Uda Kochkoma Kondopoga Kuchozero Segezha Petrozero Medvezhyegorsk Ryugozero Petrozavodsk– Kouvola line to Suoyarvi to Louhi viaYushkozero │ to Sukkozero & Suoyarvi Ledmozero II to Yaroslavl Kostomuksha to Kirov Kiviyarvi Vologda I Russia Finland border to Konosha Vartius Sheksna to Oulu Cherepovets Kontiomäki Koshta to Kajaani Komarikha Petrozavodsk Uita Tokari Timoshkino Svir Babaevo proposed Volkhov bypass 25 kV AC 3 kV DC voltage change 25 kV AC 3 kV DC voltage change Lodeinoe Pole Verkhnevolsky Tikhvin Volkhovstroy II to Luga Volkhovstroy I Mga Saint Petersburg

TheKirov Railway(‹See Tfd›Russian:Кировская железная дорога,romanized:Kirovskaya zheleznaya doroga;until 1935Murman Railway) is a1,520 mm(4 ft11+27⁄32in)broad gaugeRussianrailway network that links theMurman CoastandMurmanskcity (in the north) andSaint Petersburg(in the south). The railway is operated by theArktikapassenger train.The total distance between Saint Petersburg and Murmansk is 1,448 km (900 mi), the section betweenPetrozavodskandKolahaving a length of 1,054 kilometres (655 mi). It has 52 stations. The line is of vital military importance because Murmansk is anice-free portaccessible via theBarents Sea:

The [...] limiting factor in Russian overseas supply [inWorld War I] was not ocean shipping. Rather, effective use of imports was dependent on the thin line of transportation from the ports to the inland areas. Goods delivered to Vladivostok [...] faced the single, speed- and weight-limited track of the Trans-Siberian railway. Goods that made the tortuous passage to the Murman Coast had even more limited options. The primary Russian port,Arkhangel'sk,was served by a single narrow gauge line, which resulted in tremendous backlogs of stores. While the closure of the port each year during the late winter offered the opportunity to clear out the accumulation, the excess continued to grow. [...] The Allies desperately wanted to avoid the White Sea closure by using the warm water ports of the western Murman Coast or Norway. Throughout the war, the British government pressured Sweden to permit the passage of supplies to Russia, and some limited shiopments were made. [...] More promising was the effort to build a seven hundred-mile railway from the ice-freeKola Inletto the northern terminus of the Russian rail system. TheRussian Council of Ministershad funded the effort in December 1914, and construction on each of the three major sections began in 1915. [...] The line was eventually opened on November 28, 1916, too late to impact theImperialwar effort.

The northern part of the line, betweenPetrozavodskandKola,was built in 1915–1917: due to a lack of workers the Tsarist authorities deployed more than 40,000 German and Austrianprisoners of warto the construction.

DuringWorld War IIthe line re-asserted its military importance as a link between theArctic convoysand theEastern Front.In 1941–1943 the central part betweenSvirand Petrozavodsk was occupied by theFinnish Armyunder orders from MarshalMannerheimduringContinuation Warphase of theSecond World War.

Originally called theMurman Railway,the line was renamed theKirov Railwayin 1935 in honor ofSergei Kirov(a prominentBolshevikleader in the 1917October Revolution), who had been assassinated the year before. In 1959 the Kirov Railway became part of theOctober Railway.The line waselectrifiedin 2005.

See also

• Murmansk–Nikel Railway
• List of named passenger trains of Russia

External links

Media related toMurman Railwayat Wikimedia Commons