Sakhalin Railway
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Khabarovsk—Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk passenger train
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Locale | ![]() |
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Dates of operation | 1992–2010 |
Predecessor | Far Eastern Railway (1945—1992) |
Successor | Far Eastern Railway (2010—present) |
Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
Headquarters | Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk |
Sakhalin Railway (Russian: Сахалинская железная дорога) was a subsidiary of the Russian Railways from 1992 until 2010, when it was made part of the Far Eastern Railway.
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Contents
History
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![](/w/images/thumb/9/93/Japanese_SL_D51-22.jpg/300px-Japanese_SL_D51-22.jpg)
The Treaty of Portsmouth following the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 placed the northern half of Sakhalin under the control of the Russian Empire, whilst the southern half (Karafuto) was under control of Japan.
On the Japanese half of the island, a 42.5 km long railway was built from Korsakov (大泊 (Otomari?)) to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (豊原 (Toyohara?)), with a gauge of 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in). This section was later converted to the usual Japanese railway gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).
In 1911, a 53.9 km branch was built from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Starodubskoye (Sakaehama). Between 1918 and 1921, the towns of Nevelsk (本斗 (Honto?)), Kholmsk (真岡 (Maoka?)), Chekhov (野田 (Noda?)) and Tomari (泊居 (Tomarioru?)) 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 700 km.
After the Second World War, control of the whole of the island passed to the Soviet Union, 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.
The Soviet era saw the network extended into the north of the island, with a total extent in 1992 of 1,072 km. By 2006, little-used sections such as Dachnoye-Aniva and Dolinsk-Starodubskoye had been closed, but the network still had a total length of 805 km.
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.
Future prospects
Re-gauging and potential connection to the mainland
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The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin 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 labour between 1950 and 1953, but was cancelled after Stalin's death.
Since 1973, a train ferry 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.[1] However, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev announced his support for the project in November 2008, suggesting the link could be completed by 2030.[2] In February 2013, the Russian government announced plans to build this link, including it in the 2012-2015 federal transport plan. It would connect the Sakhalin Railway to the Baikal-Amur Magistral at Komsomolsk-na-Amur. The link, estimated at 21 billion rubles, would require some 540–580 km of new construction on the mainland, a bridge across the Strait of Nevelskoy and an additional 100 km of new track to connect the line to the existing network.[3]
In order to allow regular Russian trains to run on the island, the island's rail network is currently being converted to Russian broad gauge.[4] The Russian Railways is converting the existing narrow gauge track to dual gauge with plans to complete the conversion by 2017.[5]
Potential connection to Hokkaido
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There have also been proposals to connect the southern tip of Sakhalin to the Japanese island of Hokkaido via a 40 km long bridge or tunnel. This link would allow a direct land transport link for container traffic from Japan to the Asian mainland and Europe.[6][7]
Gallery
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Sokol-D2-002.jpg
Д2 -
Poljakowo.jpg
Д2 -
Pionery-D2-004.jpg
Д2 -
Poljakowo-D2-008-02.jpg
Д2 -
TG16-047.jpg
ТГ16 - 047 -
TGM7-027.jpg
ТГМ7-027 in Cholmsk
References
- ↑ International Railway Journal - Sakhalin rail link too expensive
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ International Railway Journal - Russia plans rail link to Sakhalin island
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ International Railway Journal - Russia plans rail link to Sakhalin island
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Russian Railways Official Site (Russian language)
- Sakhalin Railway Official Site (Russian language)
- Photo - project «Steam Engine» (Russian language)
- «The site of the railroad» S. Bolashenko (Russian language)
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles containing Russian-language text
- Articles that mention track gauge 1067 mm
- Articles containing Japanese-language text
- Articles that mention track gauge 600 mm
- Articles that mention track gauge 1520 mm
- 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