Tsarskoselskaya Railway

Categories / City Services/Transportation/Railway Stations, Railway Transport
TSARSKOSELSKAYA RAILWAY is the first Russian railway (until 1851 - the only in the country, the 6th in the world), running between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo. Its construction started on 1 May 1836 (according to the project of Austrian engineer F.A. Gerstner), and opened on October 30,1837. That day a train covered 23 km from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo in 35 min. Initially trains were drawn by horses and only on Sundays by steam engines. Starting on 4 April 1838, only steam engines were used on the Railway. The stretch from St. Petersburg to Pavlovsk (27 km) was opened on 22 May 1838. Initially, the railway served mainly for entertaining purposes. In 1837-38 there were from 500 to 1,000 passengers departing from St. Petersburg station daily. Six foreign-made locomotive engines (Provorny, Bogatyr, and others) operated on the line. Today the former Tsarskoselskaya Railway is the main spur of St. Petersburg-Vitebsk section of Oktyabrskaya Railway.

Reference: Богданов И. А. Витебский вокзал и Царскосельская железная дорога // Новый журн. 2002. № 2. С.157-192; От Царскосельской до Октябрьской: История. Развитие. Перспективы. СПб., 2003.

I. A. Bogdanov. Gerstner Franz Anton von
От Царскосельской до Октябрьской: История. Развитие. Перспективы. СПб., 2003
Богданов И. А. Витебский вокзал и Царскосельская железная дорога // Новый журн., 2002 Oktyabrskaya Railway
1837