From the history of railways

The first railways were used hundreds of years ago in coal mines. Before that coal was brought out of the mines in wooden trucks, pushed by men or pulled by horses. It was hard work moving the heavy trucks over rough ground. So people found that horses could pull the heavy trucks much more easily along rails.

The earliest railways were made of wood. In 1767, an ironmaster called Abraham Darby started making rails of cast iron. Trucks ran much more smoothly on these rails and horses could pull much heavier loads along them. People started using these rails instead of wooden ones. They tried to make different shaped rails.

The first successful steam locomotive was constructed by the English engineer George Stephenson. He is also known as the builder of the first public railway. He used his new steam engine, «the Locomotion». The line between Stockton and Darlington opened in 1825. It was the first public steam railway in the world.

The first railway carriages had three compartments. They were shaped like stage-coaches. In first and second class carriages there were benches and roofs. Third class passengers stood in open trucks. In 1844 seats and roofs were put on third class carriages. On these early trains there were no lavatories, nor was there any heating or lighting.

The freight trains were simple, flat, wooden platforms with low sides for carrying coal and animals. All these trucks were open. The goods were covered only with a tarpaulin. Goods fell off and were easily damaged in these open trucks. Later, covered trucks were used as well.

Many people hated the railways because they were dirty and ugly. Other people were afraid of them. They thought the trains were dangerous and traveled too fast.

FROM THE HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN RAILWAYS

In the early 1830s Russian inventors the Cherepanovs, father and son, built the first Russian steam locomotives. The first railway using steam traction was put into operation at the Nizhniy Tagil metallurgical works. The first railway track was built in Russia in 1837 between Saint-Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo. The Department of Railways, later part of the Russian Ministry of Communications, was created in the Russian Empire in 1842 in order to oversee the construction of Russia’s first major railway line. The railway linked the imperial capital Saint-Petersburg and Moscow was built between 1842 and 1851.). In 1862, railway lines were completed between St. Petersburg-Warsaw and Nizhny Novgorod.

On 15 June 1865, an edict of Alexander II established the Ministry of Communications, which absorbed the Department of Railways. In the 1860s and 70s, Pavel Melnikov, Russia’s first Minister of Communications, played a key role in the expansion of the railway network throughout European Russia.

The Trans-Siberian Railway connecting Moscow and European Russia with the Russian Far East provinces, Mongolia, China and the Sea of Japan was built between 1891 and 1916.

During the First World War and especially the Russian Civil War more than 60% of the Russian railway network and more than 80% of the carriages and locomotives were destroyed.

In the Soviet period People's Commissariat of Communications expanded railway network to a total length of 106,100 km by 1940. During the Great Patriotic War the railway system played a vital role in the war effort transporting military personnel, equipment and freight to the frontlines and often evacuating entire factories and towns from European Russia to the Ural region and Siberia. After the war the Soviet railway network was re-built and further expanded to more than 145,000 km of track by major additions such as Baikal Amur Mainline.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union its railway system broke up into national railway systems of various former Soviet republics.

In 2003 a vast structural reform was implemented in order to preserve the unity of the railway network and separate the functions of state regulation from operational management: On 18 September, 2003, Decree No. 585 of the Russian Government established the Russian Railways Public Corporation.

RAILWAYS TODAY AND TOMORROW

 

The railways of today extend over 1,100000 kilometers covering all five continents: Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Australia. The goods traffic of the railways of all countries total 7,4 billion t/km. The railways carry billions of passengers a year. This is good proof to the importance of railways for the life of the world's community.

The technical possibility of this mode of transport is enormous indeed. Electric and diesel electric traction play a leading role in handling traffic. Specialized wagons and containers are used on an ever increasing scale. Heavy rails are widely used. Modern computerized systems have become an integral part of stations, shops and traffic control centers.

The modern community can hardly be imagined without railways although their role is different in the various countries. In some of them railways are the main mode of transport while in others the railways play a comparatively small role in the overall forwarding process. However there is a specified area of activity of the railways. The most typical is the handling of immense volumes of commuter traffic as well as long distance traffic while forwarding passengers over distances of 1000 or 1500 km, carrying bulk goods such as coal, ore, timber, cement, grain, motor cars etc, and forwarding industrial products and food using containers to move them from door-to-door.

 

 

THE RUSSIAN RAILWAYS TODAY

 

The Joint Stock Company «Russian Railways» (JSCo «RZD») is the government-owned railway company of Russia. It is the second largest network in the world with 1 million employees and a monopoly within Russia. The total length of track used by the Russian Railways is 85,200 km of track – 43,100 km of which are electrified. Russian rail transport accounts for 43 percent of total freight turnover and 33 percent of passenger traffic. Russian railway transport is a vitally important sector of the country's economy.

The Russian government approved a three-stage plan to restructure the rail system. The plan aims to transform the monolithic and heavily bureaucratic railway system into several organizations more responsive to the demands of a market economy and better able to attract needed investment. The planned total investment in developing rail transport in Russia up to 2030 is USD 450 billion.

The programme of reforms includes:

· the update of production and technical facilities;

· the development of new data communications systems;

· the introduction of market-orientated management;

· the cooperation with authorities at all levels and optimization of passenger companies activity to ensure breakeven passenger traffic;

· the greater competitiveness and the higher motivation of railway personnel;

· the wide automation, and computerization on railways;

· the construction of new high speed and safe locomotives;

· the optimization of conditions for work involving car fleet in order to ensure its effectiveness;

· the renewal of track and rolling stock;

· the further improvement of tariff regulation.

A socially responsible company, Russian Railways human resources policy is strongly based on long-term investment in personnel. Russian Railways makes substantial investments in employees’development and supports a large educational and training network specialising in the railway industry.

Russian Railways’ environmental programme has successfully reduced harmful emissions into the air, water and ground in recent years, even while increasing production.

 

THE BRITISH RAILWAYS TODAY

Britain has one of the most efficient and heavily used railway systems in the world. Both freight and long-distance passenger services now operate without subsidy from the Government, and in direct competition with other forms of transport. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in demand for rail transport. Railways operate in direct competition with airlines.

Every day, over 700 Intercity trains link the main cities and towns in Britain. More than 80 million Intercity journeys are made annually. British Rail's Intercity Sector operates without public subsidy. Intercity operates the world's fastest trains in existing tracks - achieving average speeds of 160 km/h.

Improved ticketing and passenger information systems are being introduced at the main terminals. New passenger coaches for the London-Edinburgh line have advanced audio-visual passenger information systems.

The Provincial Sector provides passenger services between provincial towns, cities and suburbs of London. Express diesels designed for the long-distance inter-urban Provincial services are introduced. These vehicles have aluminium construction and are fitted with full air conditioning.

British Rail's freight activities are organized as five businesses, each serving a specific sector of the market. Four businesses represent the major Rail activities. These are the bulk haulage of coal, construction materials, metals and petroleum. The heaviest freight trains on British Rail weigh 4,600 tonnes and are hauled by a single diesel locomotive.

The fifth Rail freight business is responsible for distribution services and International traffic. Container traffic on British Rail is handled by the Freightliner subsidiary, which operates as two business units served by 26 depots and port facilities.

HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY LINES

High-speed railway lines are new specialised railway lines designed for trains travelling at speeds of between 200-400 kph. Fast lines are classified as those carrying passengers at speeds of between 140-200 kph on existing but upgraded lines.

Since December 2009, Moscow, Tver, Novgorod, Leningrad, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod regions have been linked by fast and high-speed connections on upgraded infrastructure. High-speed Sapsan trains operate between Moscow - St. Petersburg, Allegro fast trains between St. Petersburg and Helsinki, and fast Swallow trains between St. Petersburg and Veliky Novgorod and between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. These fast and high-speed trains operated by Russian Railways transport over 3.2 million passengers every year.

An important step in the development of a fast and high-speed network in Russia is the construction of modern dedicated main lines capable of handling passenger trains travelling at speeds of up to 400 kph.

Studies show that promising routes for such lines are Moscow - St. Petersburg, Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan - Yekaterinburg with connections to Perm, Ufa and Chelyabinsk, and Moscow - Rostov- on-Don - Adler with connections to the cities in this region. These lines will reduce the travel time between neighbouring conglomerations to 1-1.5 hours and enable more than 100 million people living in the catchment areas of these routes to take advantage of high-speed services.

The construction of a network of fast railways and high-speed lines is provided for in the updated Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation to 2030 and considered in the Forecast for Russia's Socio-Economic Development covering the same period. Both these documents assume increased investment in economic growth based on the creation of modern transport infrastructure and high-tech industries.

ВНЕАУДИТОРНЫЕ ТЕКСТЫ

II курс

 

FUTURE OF RAILWAYS

Until recently many people were of the opinion that the railways had reached the limit of their improvement. Yet the Japanese and French railways were the first to prove that they were wrong. In these countries trains are normally run at speeds of 240-270 km/hr, while in the FRG the Experimental High Speed train ICE reached a record speed of 406 km/hr. All this caused a dramatic change in favour of the railways. It was for the first time that passengers are preferring the train to the plane. This experience is now made use of in many countries.

The drive for effective ways of developing railways is going on in an ever growing number of countries. Many railway lines in Russia handle 100 and even more trains a day. In Russia on an average the annual tonnage of lines of the network is 26 million gross tons per kilometer of tracks. The through-put capacity of modern large classification yards in Canada, the FRG and in a number of other countries is as high as 8000-10000 wagons per day. In the USA running 20000 ton trains has become normal practice. The railway networks of Asia and African countries are expanding. Automating and mechanizing of basic operations have become standard practice on most of the railways.

In the eighties and nineties of the last century many countries of Europe and America celebrated the 150^th anniversary of their railways. Among railway experts the historical aspects of railways have arouse great interest. The railways have passed through the period of accelerated expansion of the railway networks, that was a period when 20000 km of lines were built every year. Over the last 30 years the mileage of railway networks even shrank. Super steam locomotives rated at 5000 h.p. and developing a pressure of 15 to 16 bars were replaced by electric and diesel electric locomotives.

The carrying capacity of wagons increased constantly and the mass of rails went up steadily as well. Automatic brakes and the automatic coupling have become an indispensable part of rolling stock designs. Modern passenger coaches have become more comfortable and spacious.

What will come next? What are the railways in the XXI^st century?

Forecasts are always of a relative nature. Yet, it will not run any risk of committing a mistake when saying that the railways still have a long life to live. What is needed is to keep pace with time, that is the railways have to make use of all most modern scientific and technical achievements.

forwarding — перевозка грузов

commuter traffic — пригородное движение

throughput capacity — пропускная способность

bar — бар (единица давления)

carrying capacity — провозная способность

automatic coupling — автосцепка

to keep pace with — идти наравне с, не отставать от

2. THE WORLD'S LONGEST RAILROAD (100^th ANNIVERSARY)

The world's first transcontinental railroad was completed in North America in 1869, when the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific were joined. But Russia's Trans-Siberian Railroad, whose construction started 20 years later, was a much more ambitious project in incomparably more difficult natural conditions.

Siberia covers nearly a quarter of Asia. It is a land of mighty rivers, endless swamps and high mountains. The idea of building a railroad through this wilderness emerged in the mid-19^th century. The first relatively small railroad line was built in Siberia in 1885.

It was not until the 1890s that the question of building the Trans-Siberian acquired a practical ring. This period was a time when the state was increasing its influence in the area of railroads. From the outset the Trans-Siberian was a government undertaking financed from the state budget. The whole project was supervised by the Siberian Railway Committee set up for the purpose. An important part in its initiation was played by the prominent Russian statesman Sergei Witte.

The railroad was built in stages. May 1, 1891, is regarded as the official start of the construction project.

The first section, Chelyabinsk-Ob, was relatively easy, requiring little excavation work. Construction proceeded at record-breaking rates. To overcome the shortage of manpower, the committee bought steam shovels abroad. The West Siberian part of the Trans-Siberian Railroad was completed in 1895, having taken just over three years to build. Meanwhile work on the central part had started in 1893 in two places, the Ob and the Yenisei, and construction moved east from both sites. This part proved to be far more difficult with huge trees, swamps and mountains. For the first time engineers encountered permafrost, which they did not yet know how to deal with. Embankments and bridge collapsed. There was also a shortage of lumber for sleepers, since the taiga forest could not be used to produce quality sleepers. Delivery of rails, sleepers and other things needed for the construction was largely carried out through the Arctic Ocean and up Siberian rivers. One of the first vessels to make the difficult trip flew a Russian flag but was commanded by British polar explorer Joseph Wiggins. Eventually 27 vessels delivered materials for the Trans-Siberian.

The number of workers employed in the project ranged from 10000 at the start to 100000 at the peak of the work. Many of the workers were convicts sent to Siberia for various crimes. Among the engineers was the prominent writer Garin-Mikhailovsky, who, incidentally, was attacked by the press for bypassing the city of Tomsk. He successfully defended himself by referring to the fact to have Tomsk on the line the length of the Trans-Siberian would have had to be extended for a distance that was greater than the branch linking the main line to the city. Indeed, the main consideration in plotting the route was to make it as short as possible. As a result, even the capital of Siberia, Tobolsk, was not on the Trans-Siberian. The decisions made in routing the line had a decisive impact on the further development of cities. Thus, both Omsk and Krasnoyarsk flourished following the construction of the railroad.

Work on the line from Lake Baikal to Sretensk (which stood on a navigable river eventually falling into the Amur) was started in 1895, this time from both sides. But in the summer of 1897 the natural elements came into play. An unprecedented flood swept away settlements that had existed for hundreds of years, and a good deal of the railroad already constructed was destroyed. Grain harvests perished as a result of an ensuing drought, and there was famine. Nevertheless, the Baikal-Sretensk line was completed in 1900.

In view of Russia's increasingly close relations with China, it was decided to extend the Trans-Siberian line via Manchuria instead of Khabarovsk. Negotiations started in 1895 and a concession was agreed upon. But the Russo-Chinese conflict of 1900 stopped construction, and much of the completed line was destroyed. After the end of the conflict, the railroad was restored and finally put into operation.

Although October 1901 is often regarded as the date of the completion of the Trans-Siberian, work on the railroad continued. There were several more lines that had to be completed for the railroad to function effectively. One of the most difficult projects was to lay a line around Lake Baikal. Previously the trains were ferried across the lake on two icebreakers that had been disassembled and brought to the lake by rail. In winter, when the ice was firm, freight and passengers were taken over the ice in horse-drawn wagons.

The line around Lake Baikal was one of the most difficult railroads to be built in the world at the time. It had 39 tunnels along the shore of the lake, much of which was vertical rock.

There was another hard nut to crack. The Amur Railroad was probably the most difficult to build after the line around Lake Baikal. There were just too many swamps, taiga, permafrost and tunnels. In fact it was only the intervention of another important Russian statesman, Stolypin, that saved the Amur Railroad from being abandoned. Some authors regard 1915 as the date the Trans-Siberian was completed.

from the outset — вначале

permafrost — вечная мерзлота

embankment — насыпь

bridge support — мостовая опора

impact — влияние

navigable — судоходной

flood — наводнение

in view of— ввиду

ferry — переправляться (на пароме)

icebreaker — ледокол