Sakhalin Railway: history, length, stations, train schedules and national importance

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

Rail is the most reliable form of land transport for the transport of goods and passengers that has ever existed. Since its inception, it has gained popularity as a relatively cheap way to transport any cargo, so it is not surprising that it even appeared on Sakhalin Island.

Length, main lines and key features

The Sakhalin Railway is remarkable not only because it is located on an island and has no contact with the mainland.

It is an original design due to the unpopular track gauge in Russia - 1067 mm. These narrow gauge railways are used in Japan, India and Africa. The length of the Sakhalin railway is 804.9 km, it combines 35 stations.

At the moment, three railway branches are functioning and in operation:

• From the station "Korsakov" to the point "Nogliki".
• From the stop station "Mine" to the stationIlyinsk.
• The Ilyinsk-Arsentievka highway is fully usable.

Total length - 867 km.

There are also 3 more branches with a total length of 54 km:

• Sokol - Bykov, 23 km long.
• Vakhrushev - Coal. The branch stretched for 9 km.
• Novo-Aleksandrovka - Sinegorsk, the length of which is 22 km.

First, a little history

G. I. Nevelsky's expedition served as a prerequisite for the creation of the Sakhalin railway. It was she who built the Korsakov Post in September 1853.

From that moment on, the development of Otomari began, as the Japanese called Korsakov. The first settlers at that time lived here at the expense of fishing and hunting, and no one thought of any railway yet.

Significant conflict with Russia

The island was originally discovered by the Japanese in the middle of the 16th century. Russians appeared on the island only at the beginning of the 18th century. The island was populated by them very actively, so in 1845 Japan decided to declare it and the Kuril Islands adjacent to the island their property.

But due to the fact that by that time most of the northern territory of the island was already inhabited by Russians, and the other part officially did not belong to anyone, Russia began fierce negotiations with Japan on the division of the territory. The result of the settlement of the conflict was the signing in 1855 of the short-lived Treaty of Shimoda on the joint use of land. Later, a new agreement was concluded in which Russia renounced thepart of the Kuril Islands, but in return became the sovereign and sole mistress of Sakhalin. This significant event took place in 1875.

The advent of the railway

Before the first Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905, the island's roads were represented by just a few dirt paths and highways, and the island itself was divided in 1905 into the southern part, which went to the Japanese, and the northern part, which went to the Russians according to the Portsmouth peace contract

This number of roads was quite enough, because apart from the convicts who are in exile and working in the coal mines, no one lived on Sakhalin

Notable is the fact that thanks to the development of mines, the first Sakhalin railway appeared, which is used for industrial purposes for transporting coal.

The development of the railway from 1905 to the annexation of Sakhalin to the USSR on August 25, 1945

Briefly about the events of that period:

• 1906 - the Japanese began construction of the first railway from Korsakov to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Initially, it had a width of 610 mm and was considered "super narrow". In 1910, the line was reconstructed to the Japanese standard gauge of 1067 mm. The road had a length of 39 kilometers and was built in record time, within two months.
• 1911 - Opening of the branch Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - Dolinsk - Starodubskoe, which became a continuation of the railway to the north.
• 1914 - Opening a branchKanuma (Novoaleksandrovka) - Oku-Kavakami (Teplovodsky), with a gauge of 610 mm.
• 1918 - the beginning of the construction of the Western Railway, with a gauge of 1067 mm, from Kholmsk (Maoka) to Chekhov (Noda) with the key station Nevelsk (Khonto). It was allowed to operate at the end of 1921. It was soon extended to Tomari and entered the general chain of railway lines, although it was originally independent.
• 1928 - Opening of the Dolinsk-Makarov (Shiritou) line, which originally had a gauge of 750 mm, but was later changed to the normal Japanese standard of 1067 mm.
• 1930s – construction of the Sakhalin railway. At this time, numerous small self-sustaining lines appeared, which were serviced by large industrial enterprises. An example of such lines is the longest of these roads, located near Shakhtersk (Toro) and Uglegorsk (Esutoro), the length of which is about 80 kilometers. The track gauge, which averages 762 mm, is considered narrow not only here, but also in Japan.
• 1944 - Line Ilyinsk - Uglegorsk, declared closed. The railroad track was dismantled and used on another section of the road.

Who built the railway from the first sleeper until 1944?

The railroad tracks of 1906-1944 were built by private companies with state support, by luring the poor to work with promises of good working conditions. As workers at such construction sites, mainly Koreans living in Japan were involved, who were subjected to slave labor, as a result of whichmany people died. But even in the event of the death of an employee, compensation was not issued to anyone. Sakhalin residents say that in order to count the number of Koreans who died during the construction, you just need to count the number of sleepers on the rails.

A significant event in 1945

As a result of the successful implementation of the military operation plan carried out by the Soviet troops in 1945, South Sakhalin returned to the disposal of the USSR. During the operation, there were no special and irreparable damage to the rails and buildings, so the extensive network of railways remained almost intact.

Railroad after the Second World War until the time of perestroika

In 1946, it was decided to change the rails on the Sakhalin railway from existing standards to mainland ones.

It was also planned to build new lines, such as the construction of a bridge across the Tatar Strait, but this line was not destined to appear. The idea itself arose in 1950, and construction was supposed to be completed by 1955. To carry out the project, a little less than several tens of thousands of people were brought to the place where the line was supposed to pass, most of which were prisoners. All of them worked under duress in unbearably difficult conditions. But the tunnel, namely the laying of the tunnel through the strait and the workers were engaged in, was not allowed to be born, because due to the death of Stalin, the project was closed without completion.

In 1967 a modern locomotive was transported to Sakhalin. In just a few years, 30 pieces were delivered. Beforeof this time, the technique of the pre-war period was used.

The first project to be implemented in 1971 was the route from Arsentievka to Ilyinsk, which was then continued to Tymovsk, starting from Pobedino station. Later it was extended to Nysh, and in 1979 to Noglik.

In 1973, the first ferry crossing appeared, which ran along the route Vanino - Holmes. This gave a big boost to the island's economy, as it allowed the export and import of goods on an industrial scale.

In the 1980s, some of the key stations were reconstructed or built from scratch station buildings. The building of the station in Poronaysk was moved to a new location, which allowed freight trains to change direction at this stopping point. Also, this time was remembered by the fact that the use of Japanese freight cars was discontinued - only passenger and diesel train cars were delivered.

From perestroika to 2003

The collapse of the Soviet Union was a difficult time for this rail network. The movement of trains along the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway was significantly reduced along almost the entire line Kholmsk - Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. This road was popular with tourists and had the most beautiful views of the scenery. Also, as one of the longest, it had great territorial significance, but when it came to the cost of its repair and maintenance, the authorities decided that the maintenance of this route was extremely unprofitable from an economic point of view. The enterprises that maintained the roads were in a crisis situation, so many lines were closed. This happened in 1994, and as time goes by, things only get worse.

Since 2001, the K-series diesel trains have been no longer used. Only 2 diesel trains from the D2 series, built in the 1980s, have remained in operation.

In 2002, it was decided to change the railway to the standard gauge for the mainland.

In 2003, a monument was erected in honor of the start of reconstruction work.

Our days

Reconstruction work is underway to upgrade the railway track, which promises to be completed in a few years. Whether the railways will be popular and whether they will meet the expectations of the authorities is difficult to say now.

The interests of the Sakhalin Railway are currently represented by Sakhalin Passenger Company JSC, the head of the railway is the general director of this company, and the founder of the company is Russian Railways.

Passenger train schedule

The modern train schedule of the Sakhalin Railway from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk station is represented by very scarce flights, as it consists of only 8 positions.

One day trip to Tymovsk and evening and night trips to Nogliki. These are long-distance lines.

Commuter trains look like this:

• 1 flight goes to Tomari, Korsakov and Bykov.
• 2 follow to the destination Novoderevenskaya.

In the schedule, the difference with Moscow time is 7 hours.

The significance of the road for the state

For the state, the Sakhalin region and the railway is of paramount importance, since the island itself is rich in minerals such as oil, natural gas and coal. The railroad also transports timber and fish.

The position of the railway was greatly shaken by motor vehicles. From any locality to any place can be reached by bus or private car. And communication with the mainland can easily be maintained using flights.

To remember

The Sakhalin railway has its own unique history. To convey it to the population, the Sakhalin Railway Museum was created. Here were collected pre-war locomotives, old snowplows, samples of tanks and much more that could be saved or given as a gift. The Museum of the History of the Sakhalin Railway can be visited by everyone.