History of Rail Transport - Russia

Russia

Further information: History of rail transport in Russia, Rail transport in Russia, and Russian Railways

Russia was in need of big transportation systems and geographically suited to railroads, with long flat stretches of land and comparatively simple land acquisition. It was hampered, however, by its outmoded political situation and a shortage of capital. Yefim and Miron Cherepanovs, Russian factory engineers, actually invented and built successful working locomotives for a mine tramway between 1832 and 1835, but their inventiveness was not pursued. Foreign initiative and capital were required. The first major public railroad was the Saint Petersburg-Tsarskoye Selo Railway, proposed and built by a Bohemian engineer, František Antonín Gerstner the son of František Josef Gerstner, in 1836.

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