The Soviet Railways (Russian: Советские железные дороги (СЖД)) was the
state owned national railway system of the
Soviet Union, headquartered in
Moscow. The railway started operations in December 1922, shortly after the formation of the Soviet Union. Soviet Railways greatly upgraded and expanded the Russian Imperial Railways to meet the demands of the new country. It operated until the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in December 1991.
The Soviet Railways were the largest unified railway in the world and the backbone of the Soviet Union's economy. The railway was directly under the control of the
Ministry of Railways in the Soviet Union.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Soviet Railways split into fifteen different national railways belonging to the respective countries. However, after the end of Soviet Railways, rail transport in the former Soviet states greatly declined and have not recovered to their former efficiency to this day.
Russian Railways
- History of Russian Railways (1991-2003) By mileage, Russian Railways was the primary successor of Soviet Railways. Newly-independent countries following the breakup, such as those in Central Asia, inherited the Soviet infrastructure.
Successor railways
See also
*Rail transport in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union was heavily dependent on rail transport, not least during the Russian Civil War and World War II, but also for industrialization according to the five-year plans.
During the Soviet era, freight rail traffic increased 55 times ( ...
* Russian Railways
* History of rail transport in Russia
* Transport in the Soviet Union
* Industrial railway
*Sibirjak
''Sibirjak'' (russian: Сибиряк, translit=Sibiryak, lit=Siberian) was a passenger train which linked Berlin to some of main routes and cities of Russia. The train passed through Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan, partly ...
* Russian Railway Museum, in Saint Petersburg, which is home to former Soviet locomotives and other machinery.
References
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
Rail transport in the Soviet Union