On August 6, Russian railway troops celebrate their professional holiday. The Day of Railway Troops was established in 1996 and was preserved when the holiday dates were changed in 2006. The date for the holiday was the day of the issuance of the imperial decree, in accordance with which the first railway companies were formed.
On August 6, 1851, Emperor Nicholas I signed the "Regulations on the composition of the management of the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway". According to this document, several new companies were formed, which were to operate and guard the railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow. A telegraphic, conductor and 14 military-working companies were created. The total number of companies is over 4300 people.
In 1870, the railway teams, now serving not only near the capital, became part of the engineering troops. A few years later they were transformed into battalions. Shortly thereafter, the new branch of the troops first had a chance to participate in hostilities. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, the railway battalions for the first time launched the construction of new branches to support the fighting troops. Since then, not a single war with the participation of our army was complete without railroad transport.
Shortly before the First World War, the railway troops became an independent structure subordinate to the military communications service of the General Staff. During the First World War, railway specialists built more than 4,300 km of new wide and narrow gauge tracks, and also restored over 4,600 km of roads. In addition, they built and rehabilitated over 5,000 km of telephone and telegraph lines used on the railways.
During the Civil War, the railway troops set a new record by building and restoring over 22 thousand km of track. More than 3,160 bridges damaged during the fighting were repaired. Soon after the war, troops began preparing for the construction of new roads in remote regions. It was the railway troops who carried out the first surveys before the construction of the future Baikal-Amur Mainline.
The railway troops played the most important role during the Great Patriotic War. They built and repaired a total of almost 200 thousand km of tracks, restored more than 75 thousand turnouts and almost 8 thousand stations. After the war, the troops made a significant contribution to the restoration of destroyed and damaged infrastructure. Railway soldiers repaired the old track and laid a new one, built stations and other objects, up to residential buildings. After completing the restoration of the destroyed facilities, the railway troops began building new ones. With their direct participation, all the main construction projects in the railway sector were carried out.
After the collapse of the USSR, independent Russia reformed the system of railway troops several times. Until the mid-90s, they managed to be part of the Ministry of Architecture and Construction, and then the Ministry of Railways, until they were made a separate Federal Service. Only in 2004 did the railway troops return to the Ministry of Defense, and soon became part of the Russian Armed Forces. Being a key element of the Logistics of the Armed Forces, the railway troops continue to work on the construction and operation of various facilities.
The editorial board of Voenniy Obozreniye congratulates all former and current servicemen of the railway troops on their professional holiday!
