The Day of the Railway Troops of the Russian Federation is a professional holiday for servicemen, conscripts, workers and employees (civilian personnel) of the Railway Troops of the Russian Federation (Railway Troops of the Armed Forces of Russia). This professional holiday is celebrated in our country annually on August 6. In 2017, the holiday coincides with the Day of the Railwayman, which is traditionally celebrated in Russia on the first Sunday of August.
For the first time, the date of the holiday was officially established by the decree of the President of Russia dated July 19, 1996 "On the establishment of the Day of Railway Troops of the Russian Federation." Currently, the holiday is celebrated as a memorable day in accordance with the decree of July 18, 2006 "On the establishment of professional holidays and memorable days in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."
The Railway Troops are special troops whose mission is to build, rebuild, operate, and provide technical cover for railways that are used for military transport. These formations take their history back from August 6, 1851, when the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, at the final stage of the construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway, approved the Regulations on the composition of the administration of this railway. Hence the modern date of the celebration - August 6th. In accordance with this provision, the first special military formations were founded, intended for the operation and protection of the railway. They were ordered to guard stations, bridges and transport hubs of the new road. For more than 160 years, military railroad workers in our country have been selflessly and selflessly serving in the interests of their Fatherland.
Already in the course of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, military railway workers provided continuous supply of the formations of the Russian army along the specially built Bendery-Galati railway section. The railway troops also played a very important role during the First World War, during which they built about 300 kilometers of broad-gauge railways and about four thousand kilometers of narrow-gauge railways. Also, more than 4, 6 thousand kilometers of tracks were restored by railway troops.
After the October Revolution of 1917, a new stage began in the life of the railway troops. The railway troops of the Red Army were created already on October 5, 1918, after the order of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the republic announced their formation. In the years of peace after the end of the civil war in Russia, they were engaged in the reconstruction of existing and construction of new railways. Their contribution to the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union was also significant. Soviet railway units and formations managed to distinguish themselves in a special way during the defense of Leningrad, Moscow, as well as in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of the Kursk Bulge and other strategic operations on the territory of the USSR and Eastern Europe. Carrying out their tasks in extremely difficult, very often combat conditions, they managed to restore about 120 thousand kilometers of tracks, as well as more than 15 thousand bridges, built more than 10 thousand kilometers of new railways, defused and destroyed more than two million land mines and mines, contributing to the safety of rail transportation …
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the railway troops took an active part in the restoration and reconstruction of the railways destroyed by the war and the construction of new highways. The most significant of them are the railway lines Kizel - Perm, Ust-Kamenogorsk - Zyryanovsk, Abakan - Taishet, Tyumen - Surgut, Ivdel - Ob, Trans-Mongolian Mainline, Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM). It should be remembered that every 9th kilometer of railways in the USSR was electrified with the help of military railroad workers. At the same time, units of the railway troops were regularly involved in the elimination of the consequences of natural disasters, accidents and disasters, including man-made ones. In particular, military railroad workers worked to eliminate the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, earthquakes in Armenia, floods in the Crimean region of the Krasnodar Territory.
In the period from 1991 to 2005, the railway troops were part of the power component of the Russian state, but were outside the strength of the country's Armed Forces. Thus, in September 1995, by the decree of the Russian president, the Federal Railway Troops Service of the Russian Federation was formed. This management structure existed until the integration of the railway troops back into the Armed Forces, the integration took place in 2005. On November 27, 2010, by order of the country's Minister of Defense, the Regulation on the Main Directorate of the Chief of Railway Troops was approved.
Modern railway troops, according to their organizational and staff structure, include the Main Directorate of the Railway Troops, as well as the Directorates of the Railway Troops of the military districts. As part of the Russian railway troops, there are separate railway brigades of constant readiness, as well as units of central subordination. At this stage in the development of the Russian Armed Forces, the Main Directorate of the Chief of the Railway Troops is part of the structure of the Central Office of the Material and Technical Support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (MTO of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation).
In their work, military railway workers actively use special equipment: bridge cranes, track-laying machines, drilling and blasting equipment. In 2013-2014 alone, the Russian railway troops received more than 500 units of vehicles and 40 units of various engineering weapons. As a result, the share of modern (with a service life of up to 6 years) general-purpose automotive vehicles was increased to 35%. In general, like all the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the railway troops are actively re-equipping. In accordance with the current program of the State Defense Order until 2020, the share of new equipment in the troops should be increased to 75%. At the same time, the number of railway troops in Russia today is about 23 thousand people, of which about 5 thousand people are contract soldiers.
Between 2013 and 2014, Russian railway troops repaired about 140 kilometers of non-public railway tracks every year. It can also be noted that in 2015, a group of railway troops began the process of building a section of the Zhuravka - Millerovo railway in the Voronezh and Rostov regions of Russia. They are building a road bypassing Ukraine. Trains traveling from Moscow towards Rostov-on-Don and Sochi were forced to cross a section of the Luhansk region without stopping. The length of the new road under construction will be 122.5 kilometers; traffic on the new line may be launched as early as mid-August 2017.
It should be noted that the main goal of improving the railway troops of Russia until 2020 is to give them an innovative look that will meet the needs of ensuring the armed protection of Russia's national interests, in accordance with the mobilization and economic capabilities of our country.
On this day, the staff of the "Military Review" congratulates all military personnel, civilian personnel and veterans, whose life path is still associated or was previously associated with the railway troops, on their professional holiday. Worthyly continue the glorious traditions of the Russian railway troops, because your work in the construction of railway lines is important not only for the army, it provides serious support to the socio-economic development of the country.
