 Travel by Trans-Siberian Railway is undoubtedly the most fascinating voyage of the world. While traveling across the vast expanse of Russia visitors get a unique chance to learn more of different cultures and present-day lifestyles of local people, see historical monuments, admire breathtaking sceneries of virgin land, the Siberian taiga, great rivers, steppes, mountains and deserts.
Today it is possible to use the rail journey as the core of a more varied tour. Travelers can enjoy stopovers in many of the Russian cities and towns along the route. There is a convenient rail connection with Mongolia and China, which offers options of combining Russia, China and Mongolia in one single tour. To the west, connections are available through Moscow to Berlin (and from there to Paris), to Budapest, and to St. Petersburg (and from there to Helsinki).
The Trans-Siberian Railway, or Transsib for a shorter word, is an excellently equipped rail-track connecting European Russia,
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its major industrial areas and the capital Moscow, with its middle (Siberia) and eastern (Far East) areas. Travel along the Trans-Siberian Railway is usually undertaken from west to east, from Moscow to Vladivostok, though it is quite possible to go in the opposite direction. The main passenger way goes via the cities of Yaroslavl, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Ulan Ude, Chita, Khabarovsk. All in all there are 87 cities and smaller towns on the route. Transsib crosses 16 large rivers, the largest being Volga, Irtysh, Ob, Yenisei, Amur, Over 207 km of the route goes along Baikal Lake and over 39 km by the shore of Amursky Bay of Japanese Sea.
Some people say that after the exploration of America and the construction of Suez Canal the building of the Trans-Siberian Railway is the most outstanding historical event in the world. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway started in 1891 under the authority Tzar Alexander III. Upon his death three years later, the work was continued under his son Nicholas. The most difficult part of construction works was the section in the area of Lake Baikal. The railroad there was built at the cost of lives of numerous convicts and thousands of poor Russian peasants. Despite the enormity of the project, a continuous route was completed in 1905. The present route of the line, including both the most difficult stretch around Baikal and replacement of the dangerously situated Manchurian line, was opened in 1916. |
Regular trains with fixed departures have more than ten sleeping cars and a dining car. Thereare usually 2 categories of sleeping cars: Category 1/2 with 2-berth compartmentsand category 2/4 with 4-berth compartments. In the 4-berth compartments there are2 lower and 2 upper berths, while in the 2-berth compartments there are 2 berths at the samelevel.
Travelers should examine carefully the train schedule as soon as they boardthe train so as not to miss train departure on any stop on the route. Stops are usually rather short - from a few minutes to half an hour. It’ll be a good idea to check departure time for each stop with either of the two train attendants in each sleeping car. During the stops, toilets are closed.