Sakhalin Railway () is a division of the Far Eastern Railway that primarily serves

Sakhalin Island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

. Due to its island location, the railway is the second isolated 1520mm gauge network in Russia, like the Norilsk railway. The only main connection to the mainland is the Vanino–Kholmsk train ferry. The management is located at Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

History

Japanese Government Railways Wartime Route Map

The Treaty of Portsmouth following the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

of 1904-05 placed the northern half of Sakhalin under the control of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, whilst the southern half ( Karafuto) was under control of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. On the Japanese half of the island, a railway was built from Korsakov () to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (), with a gauge of . This section was later converted to the normal Japanese railway gauge of . In 1911, a branch was built from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Starodubskoye (''Sakaehama''). Between 1918 and 1921, the towns of Nevelsk (), Kholmsk (),

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

() and Tomari () were also connected to the network. The Japanese railway network consisted of the Western Karafuto Railway from Naihoro (Gornozavodsk) to Tomarioru, and the Eastern Karafuto Railways from Otomari to Koton (Pobedino) until 1944. Its total length was over . After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, control of the whole of the island passed to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, including the island's complete rail network and rolling stock. Wagons from the Soviet railways were re-gauged for use on the island. The locomotive factory in Lyudinovo produced diesel locomotives of the models TG16 and TG21 specifically for use on the island's narrow gauge network. Additionally, trains were imported from Japan, such as the purpose-made A1 sets made by Hitachi Rail and Teikoku Sharyo (1958-1960), followed by the D2 sets made by

Fuji Heavy Industries , formerly , is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate primarily involved in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation manufacturing. It is best known for its line of Subaru automobiles. Founded in 1953, the company was named ...

(1986) and ex- JNR KiHa 58 railcars, purchased second hand in the early 1990s. The Soviet era saw the network extend into the north of the island, with a total extent in 1992 of . By 2006, little-used sections such as Dachnoye– Aniva and Dolinsk– Starodubskoye had been closed, but the network still had a total length of . In 1992, the Sakhalin Railway was split from the Far Eastern Railway and made its own administrative entity. It reverted to being part of the Far Eastern Railway in 2010. GaugeWidening

In order to allow regular Russian trains to run on the island, the island's rail network underwent conversion to Russian broad gauge starting from 2003. Russian Railways formally completed the regauging work in August 2019. Last scheduled train on 1067mm line Holmsk-77km pk9 was run at 30 September 2020.

Future prospects

Potential connection to the mainland

The

under

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

planned to construct a tunnel between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland, which would have linked Sakhalin to the rest of the Soviet rail network. The project was begun using

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

between 1950 and 1953 but was canceled after Stalin's death. Since 1973, a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...

has connected Vanino (on the mainland near Sovetskaya Gavan) with the town of Kholmsk on Sakhalin. There have been some calls from politicians to revive the concept of building a bridge or tunnel between Sakhalin and the mainland, although there have been concerns that the costs of the project would outweigh the benefits. However, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev announced his support for the project in November 2008, suggesting the link could be completed by 2030, with bridge rather than a tunnel, and far more northerly route. In February 2013, the Russian government announced plans to build the link, including it in the 2012–2015 federal transport plan. It would connect the Sakhalin Railway to the Baikal–Amur Mainline at

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

. The link, estimated at 21 billion rubles, would require about of new construction on the mainland, a bridge across the northernmost part of the Strait of Nevelskoy, and an additional of new track to connect the line to the existing network.

Potential connection to Hokkaido

There have also been proposals to connect the southern tip of Sakhalin to the Japanese island of

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

via a bridge or tunnel. This link would allow a direct land transport link for container traffic from Japan to the Asian mainland and Europe.

Rolling stock

File:RZD RA3-024 2022-08 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 2.jpg, File:Poljakowo.jpg, File:РЖД ТГ16-073 2020-16 Победино 3.jpg, File:РЖД ТГМ7-027 2016-06.jpg, File:РЖД ТГ16М-001 2016-06 Чехов-Сахалинский на Капской колее.jpg,

References

External links

Russian Railways Official Site
(Russian language)
Sakhalin Railway Official Site
(Russian language)
Photo - project «Steam Engine»
(Russian language)

(Russian language) {{Russian Railways Sakhalin Rail transport in the Russian Far East Railway lines in Russia History of rail transport in Japan 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Russia 1520 mm gauge railways in Russia