Transnistrian Railway () is the railway operator of

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

History

The first railway line on the territory of

was built in 1867, from Kuchurgan station to

Tiraspol Tiraspol (, ; also /; , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Transnistria, a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the third-largest city. The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River. Tiraspol is a regional hub of cul ...

, and in 1871 to

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

. In early November 1877, the Bendera-Galati line, with a length of , was opened for military traffic. In August 1894, the section from Rybnitsa to Balti with a bridge across the Dniester and a 165-meter tunnel on the Lipceni-Mateuti stretch was put into operation. In June 1917, the Bender locomotive depot had 253 locomotives and was the largest on the South-Western railway. Since the first days of the

Great Patriotic war The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, the railroad provided access to the front line and the entire combat area. Using the railway, industrial facilities were evacuated and troops and ammunition were brought to the front line. Track gauge on the main lines was changed three times: in July 1940 to , in August 1941 to , between May and the end of 1944 back to . During the war, over 20% of the network, 30 stations, 50% of the buildings, major bridges on the Dniester and Prut rivers, 90% of the machinery, 30% of the communication lines and more were destroyed and of tracks were dismantled and removed. From 1939 to 1997, the narrow-gauge Kamenka - Popelyukhi railway operated. In 1999, it was dismantled. In the 1946–50 period, 3 billion rubles from the Union budget were spent on the restoration and modernization of the Moldavian railway. More than 600 structures were built, more than 1 million m³ of earthworks were performed, 1.7 million m³ of construction materials were used, over 650 thousand sleepers were laid, the operational length reached and in 1948 the Union-level train speed was reached. From 1953 to 1979 the Moldavian railway was merged with the Odesa Railways and was called the Odesa-Kishinev railroad. In 1991, electrification of the Razdelnaya (Ukraine)-Kuchurgan (Ukraine)-Tiraspol-Bender section began, but was interrupted due to the war in Transnistria. Currently, only the Ukrainian part of the contact network (up to Kuchurgan) is working. However, in Tiraspol there are unwired supports. In August 2004, due to the aggravation of relations between

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, the unitary enterprise "Transnistrian Railway" (centered around

, Bender and

Rîbnița Rîbnița ( or , , ) or Rybnitsa (; ) is a town in the breakaway state, breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria. According to the 2004 Census in Transnistria, 2004 census, it has a population of 53,648. Rîbnița is situated in the northern half ...

stations) was created, separating the network from the Moldovan Railways.

Gallery

File:TiraspolStation.JPG, Tiraspol Railway station File:2ТЭ10М-2650 Москва-Кишинёв.jpg, Moscow-Chișinău Train File:Pridnestrovkaya zeleznaya doroga.png, Map File:Railway map of Moldova.png, Map File:Станция Бендеры 1 - Донор.jpg, Bender-1 File:Станция Бендеры 2 - Донор.jpg, Bender-2

References

External links

* {{Rail transport in Europe Railway companies of Moldova Companies of Transnistria Railway companies established in 2004