Trans-Aral Railway (original) (raw)

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Rail line in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan

Trans-Aral Railway
A view from the train while travelling along the path of the Trans-Aral Railway. Much of the railway cuts across the vast, rolling Kazakh Steppe
Overview
Other name(s) Tashkent Railway
Status Operational
Owner Russian Railways (Rostov-on-Don–Iletsk I)Kazakhstan Temir Joly (Karatogay–Arys I)Uzbek Railways (Tashkent–Andizhan I)
Locale European RussiaCentral Asia
Termini Rostov-on-DonAndizhan I
Stations 42
Service
Type Inter-city railFreight rail
Operator(s) Russian RailwaysKazakhstan Temir JolyUzbek Railways
History
Commenced 1888–1906
Built era Russian Empire
Technical
Line length 9,200[1] km (5,700 mi)
Number of tracks 2
Character International rail link
Track gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
Old gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft) as built
Route map Legend Don–Fergana main line to Krasnodar & Taman Rostov-on-Don Moscow-Crimea main line Liski to Voronezh Bobrov Khrenovaya Talovaya Koleno Novokhopyorsk Kalmyk Povolyno Balashov Arkadak Rtishevo II Blagodatka Ekaterinovka Atkarsk to Saratov Petrovsk to Saratov Sennaya to Syzlan-Gorod & Ulyanovsk Volsk II Volga river Balakovo to Saratov & Ershov Pugachevo Novoperelyuskaya to Samara & Buzuluk Pogromnoe Sorochinskaya Novosergievskaya to Orsk, Tobol & Astana Orenburg Donguzkaya Iletsk I RussiaKazakhstan border Karatogay Aktobe Alga Aral Baikonur / Tyuratam Kyzylorda Turkistan Arys I to Almaty KazakhstanUzbekistan border Tashkent to Samarkand Zhaloir Angren Kamchiq tunnel to Khuchand Pop Namangan former line to Uchkurgan to Uchkurgan & Kirgyzstan Hakkulobod Paytug Andizhan I to Fergana

The 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) broad gauge Trans-Aral Railway (also known as the Tashkent Railway) was built in 1906 connecting Kinel and Tashkent, then both in the Russian Empire.[2][3] For the first part of the 20th century it was the only railway connection between European Russia and Central Asia.

An extensive description of the newly built railway was published in 1910.[4]

Construction history

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Railway station in Tashkent 1903

There were plans to construct the Orenburg–Tashkent line as early as 1874. Construction work did not start, however, until the autumn of 1900. The railway was simultaneously built from both ends toward a common junction. It opened in January 1906, linking the existing network of Russian and European railways to the Trans-Caspian Railway.

On January 1, 1905, the Kinel–Orenburg section of the Samara–Zlatoust line was joined to the Tashkent railway.

The Kinel–Tashkent Railway was the first line to be built across the steppe, replacing the multiple routes once used by caravans with a single, steel path. It introduced the Kazakhs to industrial modernity and tied the distant Governor-Generalship of Turkestan more firmly to the Russian metropole, allowing troops to be rushed to Central Asia and raw cotton to be exported to Moscow's textile mills.[5]

Because of the American Civil War, cotton shot up in price in the 1860s, becoming an increasingly important commodity in the region, although its cultivation was on a much lesser scale than during the Soviet period. The cotton trade led to the construction of these railroads. In the long term, the development of a cotton monoculture would render Turkestan dependent on food imports from Western Siberia, and the Turkestan–Siberia Railway was already planned when the First World War broke out.[_citation needed_]

Post-revolutionary period

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After the revolution the line was blocked by Cossacks under the command of Ataman Dutov. Cut off from food supplies, and unable to sustain itself due to forced cotton cultivation, Russian Turkestan experienced an intense famine. The temporary loss of the Trans-Aral also allowed the Tashkent Soviet a degree of autonomy from Moscow during the period immediately following the Bolshevik takeover, which resulted in atrocities like the Kokand Massacre, in which between 5,000 and 14,000 people were killed.

The line passes through several notable cities in Kazakhstan, including Aktobe, Aral, Qyzylorda, Turkistan, and Shymkent. It connects at Arys with the Turkestan–Siberia rail line toward Almaty, eastern Kazakhstan, and south Siberia.

  1. ^ "The Trans-Asian Railway (Eurasian Landbridge)". The Geography of Transport Systems.
  2. ^ Coulibaly, S Deichmann, U et al (2012) Eurasian Cities: New Realities along the Silk Road, World Bank Publications, P26
  3. ^ "Desert & Steppe Conquests: Fortresses and Railways in the Sahara and Kazakhstan". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Angus (1910). Afghanistan. Oriental series. Boston and Tokyo: J.B. Millet Company. Retrieved 2014-11-23.
  5. ^ Morrison, Alexander (28 March 2012). "Railways in Central Asia". CESMI Central Eurasian Scholars & Media Initiative. Retrieved 29 August 2016.