FUTURE RUSSIAN RAILROAD
CONSTRUCTION. ITS SCOPE
AND MANNER OF REALIZATION
By
G. I. OUSPENSKY
Chairman Section of New Railroads^ in the Ministiy of Ways of
Communication
YOUROVETA HOME & FOREIGN TRADE CO., Inc.
Nèw York
FUTURE RUSSIAN RAILROAD
CONSTRUCTION. ITS SCOPE
AND MANNER OF REALIZATION
By
G. I. OUSPENSKY
u
Chairman Section of New Railroads, in the Ministry of Ways of
Communication
Publication Department
YOUROVETA HOME & FOREIGN TRADE CO., Inc.
New York
FUTURE RUSSIAN RAILROAD
CONSTRUCTION. ITS SCOPE
AND MANNER OF REALIZATION
By G. I. OUSPENSKY,
Chairman Section of New Railroads, in the Ministry of Ways of Communication.
A report read before the Society of Engineers of Ways of
Communication on May 1-5, 1915.
The problem of the necessary railroad construction, its scope
and manner of realization has long since become one of the most
vital and burning questions of Russian life. Many works and
investigations have been devoted to this problem, especially
since the period of 1904-1905, and if at present, the matter is
again given a great deal of attention it is because our life, the
economic growth of our country, and the newly arisen needs and
relationships have somewhat modified the problem. New needs
have come to the surface and new factors have made themselves
felt, which must be taken into account.
It is a matter of common knowledge that we have few rail¬
roads, and that our immense country has fewer railroad facilities
than the other European countries and incomparably fewer than
the countries which with regard to their distances are most like
ours, such as the United States and Canada. We have no inten¬
tion to dwell here on this matter. We shall merely give on the
following page a few statistical data regarding the length of the
railroad mileage, the area, and the population of the most im¬
portant countries..
The obvious undevelopment of our country with respect to
railroad facilities and also the limited amount of means which
could be devoted to railroad construction from the verv outset
•/
enhanced the importance of planning the latter. The history of
our railroad matters has recorded several plans for raihvay con¬
struction, which were elaborated at different epochs.
When the necessity of elaborating a plan for railway con¬
struction became apparent, there appeared a number of works
which aimed at determining, theoretically, both the amount and
regional distribution of the necessary railroad construction.
Table 1
NAMES' OF
COUNTRIES
Area (without large
bodies of water in
sq. kilometer*)
Population
Mileage of R.Rs.
in operation at end
of year under
record
Railway mileage
in kilometers
Year
Population
(both sexes)
Year
Kilometers*
Per 100 sq.
kilometers
of area
Per 10,000
inhabitants
of both sexes
Belgium
29,451
1912
7,490,411
1913
4,720
16.0
6.3
Great Britain
314,682
1913
46,438,401
1912
37,728
12.0
8.1
Germany
540,858
1913
66,835,000
1913
63,018
11.7
9.4
France
536,464
1912
39,601,599
1913
51,188
9.4
12.9
Austria
300,006
1911
28,571,934
1913
23,200
7.7
8.1
Hungary
325,411
1911
20,886,487
1913
21,881
6.7
10.5
Bosnia & Herzegovina.
51,199
1911
1,931,802
1913
1,956
3.8
11.3
Italy
286,682
1911
35,959,077
1913
17,634
6.2
4.9
U. S. A. & Porto-Rico.
9,369,391
1913
98,180,079
1913
409,944
4.3
41.8
Canada
9,659,400
1911
7,206,645
1912
42,012
0.4
58.3
Australia
7,703,864
1913
4,734,417
1913
28,926
0.4
61.2
Russia in Europe (in¬
cluding Poland, the
Caucasus & Finland)
5,900,277
1913
153,353,800
1914
62,912
1.06
4.1
Finland
373,604
1911
3,115,197
1913
3,912
1.05
12.6
Asiatic Russia (with
Khiva and Bokhara).
16,255,334
1913
23,045,800
1914
11,707
0.07
5.8
An outburst of these theoretical activities took place during the
period after the year 1905, when after a lull in the railway con¬
struction the need for new lines became especially acute and when
the necessity of building them entered the people's consciousness.
Of the works published at that time the most outstanding are
those of Engineer Struve, Engineer Stoltzmann and General
Petrov.
Struve took only two cardinal factors : area and population,
as the point of departure for the comparison of the railway
systems of various countries and regions. Stoltzmann used more
complex measurements, namely the amount of pood-versts of
transported freight, checking up the results by the gross income
of the railroads. He believed, this method to be the most perfect
way of registering the sum of the economic peculiarities of a
* 1 kilometer zz: 0.622 mile. 1 sq. kilometer zzz 0.386 sq. mile.
4
given region, which, in the last account, finds expression in the
work of the roads in operation. He related both the gross income
and length of the mileage to the area of the region, thus getting
a new magnitude, the paying capacity per 100 square versts.
Gen. Petrov uses the ratio of the gross income to the population
as his measurement. He also establishes a new magnitude, the
length of railroad mileage per 10,000 inhabitants, which number
he calls the "norm." Having investigated the interaction of the
norm and the average expenditure of the population for railroad
services, he arrives at the conclusion that a 0.7 verst increase
per 10,000 inhabitants during five years presents no dangers.
On the basis of this formula Gen. Petrov calculated the general
increase of the Russian net as follows :
Years Increase in Versts
1908-1913 13,000
1913-1918 15,100
1918-1923 16,900
1923-1928 18,700
1928-1933 20,900
1933-1938 23,100
1938-1943 25,600
1943-1948 16,700
1908-1948 150,000
Without going into a detailed criticism of these theories, it
should be stated here that they cannot, of course, solve the
highly complex problems of estimating the infiuence of all the
economic factors which must be taken into account when we try
to determine the relative urgency of the need of a given region
for new railroads. Even if we take the gross income and pood-
versts^ i. e., the intensity of the traffic, as measures, we cannot
help concluding that, although these magnitudes reflect the eco¬
nomic life most faithfully, they do not register all the economic
factors, which determine, whether, from the standpoint of eco¬
nomic advantage, a given region should be granted priority
in the general scheme of railroad construction. Given, for ex¬
ample, one region characterized by exceedingly high productivity,
and another region where consumption is the dominating feature,
we necessarily get freight currents between the two. The rail¬
roads in the territory lying between these two regions will be
5
self-sustaining owing to the transit traffic they carry, even if the
interstitial region Would be a desert. Judging by the income
derived from these roads and the intensity of traffic one might
conclude that it is necessary further to develop them. Such a
conclusion, however, would be incorrect, for the volume of transit
carried by a road is not a measure of the productivity of the
area where the road lies. It is erroneous to infer from the large
income and the intensive traffic of such road that new roads
should be built in the region.
It would seem that there are other magnitudes which express
more closely the economic forces of various territories. The
ratio of the amount of commodities shipped and received by the
population of a given region, to its population and area, which
is known as the coefficient of freight capacity, would appear to
be one such magnitude. But these coefficients are at present not
to be had, and until they become accessible, the traditional
methods are the most efficient and reliable ones.'''
Lately the economic growth of our country has brought
about such an en'ormous increase in railroad transportation, that
there has come into being a new factor, namely the complete
congestion of some of our railway lines, which must be taken into
account in solving the problems of railroad construction. It has
become necessary either hurriedly to add another track to some
of the roads or to build parallel lines in the direction of the
freight current already established.
The new roads whose construction will come up for consid¬
eration fall into two groups ; the task of some of them, will be to
reduce the congestion of the net, others, known as pioneer roads,
will have to meet the transportation needs of regions which have
no railroads. Our railroads it will be observed, are so scarce
that even the typical roads of the first category are of great local
importance, and that, while discharging their primary service,
which is the reception and transmission of the existing freight
current, they, at the same time, meet local needs.
The work of the Russian system in terms of pood-versts
in connection with the growth of the mileage is presented in the
diagram which is appended to the pamphlet by Mr. A. A.
Boublikoiï, '"The Necessity of Russo-American Cooperation in
* Quite recently a number of these coefficients have been calculated,
and the results which were obtained differed from those of the earlier
investigation. The discussion of these results will be the subject of
a separate paper.
6
Russian Railroad Construction." The latter shows that the
growth of the net is closely accompanied by an increase in the
traffic intensity. An especially striking rise in the traffic in¬
tensity took place after 1908, which phenomenon is wholly ac¬
counted for by the great wave of prosperity which has swept our
country in late years. The following table will furnish the
necessary data for the comparison of the work of our railroads
with that of foreign systems :
Table 2
Number of pood-versts in millions, per verst
Year
European
Russia
Germany
United
States
France
Austria-
Hungary
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
48.8
47.4
51.3
52.3
46.3
51.3
54.8
53.3
58.6
59.6
63.0
67.6
74.0
• • •
42.9
43.7
46.5
47.3
50.3
53.7
56.2
53.0
56.0
58.7
63.7
41.6
43.5
46.7
45.5
47.6
53.8
57.6
52.2
51.6
59.2
58.3
• • •
• • •
• • •
26.0
26.1
26.4
26.2
27.4
28.9
30.9
31.8
32.8
33.7
35.5
• • •
• * •
27.6
27.2
27.5
27.7
28.9
30.4
32.3
32.6
32.8
33.1
35.7
• • •
• • •
• • •
This table shows that, as regards the growth of traffic in¬
tensity, the railroad system of European Russia has outdone
those of all the other countries of Western Europe, except per¬
haps the net of Great Britain,'for which there are no data in the
Statistical Books of the Ministry of Ways of Communication, on
the basis of which the table is compiled. In interpreting the
table, it must be taken into consideration that the German net,
which is most like the Russian with respect to intensity, has a
higher percentage of roads with two and more tracks. Thus, in
1910, the ratio of mileage of double or more tracked lines to the
general railroad mileage was 272% in European Russia, 39.2%
in Germany and 10.6% in the United States.
It is clear from the table that the traffic intensity of our net,
which in 1908 amounted to 53,300,000 poods per verst, reached
7
the sum of 74,000,000 in 1913, thus averaging a yearly increase
of 7%. But the general increase in intensity gives no adequate
idea of the increase which takes place in individual sections of
the system. Let us take several such sections as an example.
Table 3
NAME OF SECTION
1. Tula-Serpukhov-Moscow
2. Sinelnikovo-Y ekaterinoslav-V erkhovzevo-
Pyatikhatki
3. Znamenka-Bobrinskaya-Fastov
4. Sinelnikovo-Pavlograd-Lozovaya
5. Kovel-Rovno
6. Balashov-Liski-Valuiki
7. Omsk-Cheliabinsk
8. Chelyabinsk-Yekaterinburg
9. Yekaterinburg-Vyatka
10. Vyatka-Vologda-Petrograd
11. Chelyabinsk-Ufa-Samara •
Average Yearly % of
Increase in Freight
Traffic for the Years
1909-1912-13
10-14
17-18
12-15
25
22-28
24-35
24
11-14
17-36
27-36
10-17
According to this table, the increase on the lines running
from the Ural and Siberia toward Petrograd is more than 20%,
on the lines carrying the Donetzky coal up to 15%, etc., etc.
The intensity of the growth of the traffic in the whole system
and particularly in individual directions raises the problem of
how well our net is adopted to the growing traffic. This ques¬
tion often arose before the men in control of our railroads and
led to the strengthening of separate lines and junctions. When¬
ever the insufficiency of the road capacity of some line or group
of lines became apparent, an official was dispatched to the locality
and on the basis of the data collected on the spot he elaborated
a definite scheme of .strengthening separate sections of the road.
The data were not sufficiently complete to cover all the changes
in the freight current for several years and during separate
periods of time. Besides, the changes brought about by the con¬
struction of new railways were often overlooked, for the prob¬
lems relating to new railroad were settled in most cases by
another Ministry. As a result, the planning of new railroads
left much to be desired.
8
The history of the Russian railroads has recorded several
attempts of a systematic investigation of the road capacity of
our railroad system. The first investigation dates back to 1908,
when the Ministry of Ways of Communication laid before the
Duma a bill providing for a plan of strengthening the railroad
system which involved the expenditure of 916 million rubles. The
attempt, we confess, was rather a failure. If we compare the
number of second tracks which was provided for in the bill with
the number which was actually laid, we see that only an insig¬
nificant number of the former has been eventually built, for the
simple reason that most of them were later found altogether
unnecessary.
This may be accounted for by the fact that before 1908 the
study of the work of our railroads did not rest on a sufficiently
firm foundation. It was only with the formation of District
Committees that there became available well organized statistical
material, covering the traffic intensity from month to month and
from week to week, pointing out the causes of the variations in
the freight current and revealing the irregularity which char¬
acterizes the traffic on the whole system.
At present, there already exists satisfactory statistical mate¬
rial covering a sufficiently long period of time. There are records
of the weekly number of cars dispatched in the separate sections
of the entire railroad system. By comparing these figures with
the data regarding the monthly and yearly traffic it is possible
to determine the seasonal irregularity of the freight current.
This irregularity is considerable. Those parts of our system
which carry the products of mining industries work more or less
uniformly. The irregularity on these lines is expressed by the
coefficient 1/10 approximately, i. e., the maximurh monthly
traffic in pood-versts or in cars equals 1/10 of the yearly traffic.
The coefficient of irregularity in the case of railroad is carrying
other products is considerably higher. Thus, on lines carrying
grain or timber, it is 1/7 and even 1/6. At any rate, in consid¬
ering the extent to which a section is congested it is necessary
to take into consideration the coefficient of irregularity. Further¬
more, the study of monthly traffic also reveals a considerable
amount of irregularity. The highest number of cars dispatched
during a week differs from the monthly average by 15% to 20%.
In case a section is more crowded, the traffic on it is much more
uniform, for the reason that such a line can handle no more
9
freight than it actually handles. The remaining freight either
waits for its turn, is refused admission, or is dispatched by a
circuitous route.
Finally, as for the number of trucks per train, it is obviously
impossible to expect a line with trains made up of the maximum
number of cars throughout a given period. There are numerous
factors which tend to reduce the number trucks to a train thus
giving rise to a correction which must be of course, taken into
consideration. The reduction is generally about 10% of the
maximum.
The actual work of the Russian railroad system in 1913 in its
relation to the road capacity of separate sections, during the same
year, Was thoroughly analyzed. The sections on which upward
of 80, 70, 60 and 50% of thç road capacity were utilized dur¬
ing separate weekly periods were especially examined. It is
to be noted that in the case of single-track lines, the utilization
may be considered normal only when it does not exceed 80%
of the road capacity, because 20'% of it should be allowed for
reserve and for the delays in the traffic which happen daily and
which are inevitable. A utilization exceeding 80% shows that
the work is done at the expense of the reserve capacity and must
be considered abnormal. The utilization of more than 70% of
the road capacity shows an approach to the dangerous maximum,
and such a section must be subjected to careful investigation.
The analysis made showed clearly that in 1913 most of our
railroads utilized more than 70% of the road capacity, i. e.,
worked with great intensity. But this conclusion is not suffi¬
ciently concrete. To determine the status of a road, it is impor¬
tant to know not only that it was operated with abnormal in¬
tensity during a certain weekly period, but also how long this
abnormal utilization of the road capacity lasted. The latter ques¬
tion was also thoroughly investigated and the analyses showed
that on very many sections there "was an enormous number of
weekly periods with a utilization exceeding 70%. This means
that many parts of our net were at that time extremely con¬
gested. Of these, the railroads of the entire Donetz Basin, with
the lines running from it, should be mentioned first. Completely
overcrowded are the Western roads, which connect the Donetz
and Dombrova Basins and carry a large amount of various
freights, in addition to coal. The Northern and Eastern exits of
the Donetz Basin, especially the system of South Eastern Rail-
10
roads, were also congested. The line from Kupyansk to Valuiki,'
and further to Bala^hov and, also the Ryazan-Ural Railroad to
Rtishchevo and Penza, the lines Millerovo and Yeletz-Valuiki-
Moscow all are congested. The roads in the Vistula region were
also extremely overworked. The situation is equally unsatis¬
factory in the North. The Northern lines from Omsk to Petro¬
grad are congested, just as the Samara-Zlatoust Railroad, which
carries the Siberian freights. x
The actual congestion with existing freight is not, however,
the only thing that must be taken into consideration in deciding
whether it is necessary to develop the lines in a certain direction.
Two new factors must be reckoned with, namely the influence
of the railways under construction and the natural growth of the
traffic.
9
The influence of the newly-built roads, taking into account
the intensity of construction which is now being planned, is very
great. Many lines are completely unloaded by the new railways,
others, on the contrary, experience an increase in their traffic. In
the near future, when the roads now in the process of construc¬
tion will be opened, we shall have to face a very serious change in
our freight currents.
The analysis of the influence of new roads is rather compli¬
cated. Until lately our investigators have hardly given any at¬
tention to this matter. The Commission of New Railways, which
plans the construction of new lines, studies the freight traffic of
the new roads and its financial effects on the neighboring lines,
but it states its conclusions rather summarily,, without attempt¬
ing to determine the effects on each section. The data regard¬
ing the new roads contained in the records of the Commis¬
sion are often unable to answer the question as to what are the
sections from which freight will be drawn. We must, therefore,
resort to the data which is already available and analyzed.
Owing to the kindness of the Department of Railroad Affairs,
which put at our disposal a mass of crude data relating to the
railroads, it has been possible for us to trace the changes in
freight traffic, which have to be produced by the new roads. The
final results of the investigation showed clearly that the influence
of the new roads is very great and must needs be taken into ac¬
count in studying the work of our existing railroad system.
They reveal some interesting details ; thus, the construction
of the line Vorozhba-Orsha has recently been authorized. This
11
line draws away an exceedingly large amount of freight ; namely,
more than two-thirds of it from the section Bryansk-Smolensk-
Vitebsk, while it greatly adds to, the traffic carried by the
Vorozhba-Bassy section. But the latter is a single-track railway
and a congested road at that. Consequently, the construction of
the Vorozhba-Orsha railroad will necessitate the laying of an ad¬
ditional track along the line Vorozhba-Bassy, or else the con¬
struction of a new unloading road.
Thus, to decide what lines should be relieved by the con¬
struction of new railroads, it is necessary to take into consider¬
ation the congestion of our net, the effects of the new roads on
the freight current and also the natural growth of the railroad
traffic. A detailed survey of the work of a great many lines,
which takes into account the natural growth of the traffic and the
influence of new roads, leads one to the conclusion that many
lines should be strengthened. That these lines should be able to
function normally, it is necessary either to build second tracks, or
to construct new unloading roads. There can hardly be any hesi¬
tation in the choice between new railroads and second tracks
added to old lines. Railroads are so scarce in Russia that every
new road, even if built for the special purpose of unloading an¬
other line, will be of inestimable service to regions completely de¬
prived of railway transportation and will thus assume a great
local importance.
UNLOADING RAILROADS
What railroads could replace the necessary second tracks?
It has been already mentioned that the lines running from
the Donetz Basin are working with very high intensity.
1.—Grishmo^Rovno.
The Western direction coincides with the mighty freight
current between the Caucasus and the Donetz Basin, on one hand,
and between the Krivoy-Rog mining region and the Vistula-
Dombrova industrial district, on the other. This is a stable and
growing freight current, and the future holds the promise of
rapid development for it.
The freight traffic in this direction is at present handled, in
the North, by the line Rostov-Nikitovka-Lozovaya-Poltava-Kiev-
Kovel, and in the South, by Eakaterina line and the South¬
western railroads. The growth of the freight traffic along these
lines is estimated at 10 and more per cent per year. Thus, in the
12
case of the section Lozovaya-Poltava, the percentage of growth
is about 16.2, and for the section Kiev-Poltava it is about 21.5.
Since these lines have no reserve road capacity, such a rapid
growth of freight traffic necessitates an immediate reinforcement
of the system in this direction. For this reason, the construction
of this line Grishino-Rovno, which has just begun, should be wel¬
comed. This line, which unloads the direction in question, will
properly, although not promptly enough, solve the problem of the
regular and unobstructed development of freight exchange along
one of the most important directions of the natural flow of freight.
2.—Kharkov^—Penza—Inza.
Turning East, we encounter the altogether congested Bala-
shov railroad, which connects Kharkov and Penza, via the city
of Balashov. This line handles the freight and emigration traffic
flowing from the thickly populated Little-Russian and South¬
western provinces into the provinces situated on the lower
reaches of the Volga and Kama, and also into the Ural and Si¬
beria. The intensity of the work developed by the Balashov
road is a measure of the size of the freight currents it handles.
The eastward freight current includes emigrants' baggage, sugar,
coal, metals and metallic wares for the Volga provinces and the
region beyond the Volga, while grain, timber, and fish from As¬
trakhan and the Ural Sea flow in the opposite direction. At pres¬
ent, the rational and unobstructed handling of these .enormous
masses of freight is impossible. Shipment by a roundabout
route has become an everyday phenomenon along this line.
These defects can be eliminated in only one way ; namely, con¬
structing in the very near future a well equipped transit trunk
line Kharkov-Penza-Inza.
This line, which figures in numerous plans of railroad con¬
struction, will also have a local importance, inasmuch as it will
meet the needs of many roadless sections of a region, which
has reached a comparatively high level of economic develop¬
ment. Unforunately, the construction of this line has not as yet
gone beyond the preliminary stage of theoretical discussion. In
the detailed plan elaborated by General Petrov this road heads
the list of necessary new railroads. Nevertheless, the question
has only recently been examined by the Commission of New
Railroads, and the actual construction of the Kharkov-Penza-
Inza line appears to be a matter of a more or less distant future.
13
3.—Donetz Basin-Moscow.
The line running from the Donetz Basin north is next in
importance. It is the shortest line of communication between
the richest and most developed sections of the Empire, between
the mines of the South and the factories and mills of the central
industrial region, between the Caucasus and Crimea, with their
ample and varied natural wealth, on one hand, and the main
administrative and economic centers of the country. Here, too,
we observe the same congestion on the railroads. To supply our
industries with mineral fuel it is imperative to create a new exit
from the Donetz Basin to Moscow. For this purpose it is neces¬
sary to construct the line Rostov-Shterovka-Moscow. The va¬
rious problems, which our economic development will bring to
the fore, will, no doubt, necessitate the construction of other
lines running northward, but the urgent need for the construc¬
tion of the Rostov-Shterovka-Moscow line must enter the public
consciousness as an incontrovertible truth borne out by the pres¬
ent economic status of the country and by the whole trend of
future economic development.
To support this assertion let us cite a few figures regarding
the amount of mineral fuel mined in the Donetz Basin and ex¬
ported from it in recent years. In 1910, the export of mineral
fuel from that region amounted to 787 million poods ; in 1913 it
was 1,197 million poods. That same year the export deficit of
Donetz fuel was estimated by the Kharkov District Committee
at about ICQ million poods ; i. e., under normal conditions of in¬
dustrial development 100 million poods had to be entered on the
debit side of the export from the Donetz Basin. The difference
between the export in 1912 and 1913 amounted to 158 million
poods, or 15%. The amount of the Donetz anthracite grew
even more rapidly. In 1909 the export of anthracite was
estimated at 133 million poods ; in 1912 at 199 million ; in 1913 at
255 million. The difference between 1912 and 1913 was 56 mil¬
lion poods, or 28%.
The figures relating to the Northern direction alone are even
more eloquent. The table on the following page, compiled from
the data of the Kharkov District Committee, shows the growth
of the import of mineral fuel into the Moscow region.
14
Exported from Donetz Basin
into Moscow region.
t k
Poods (in millions)
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
Mineral fuel
Including anthracite ...
43
49
43
38
43
68
112
100%
18
100%
24
100%
20
100%
16 .
100%
20
100%
44
100%
75
42%
49%
46%
42%
46%
65%
67%
The consumption of anthracite plays an extraordinarily im¬
portant role in the growth of the consumption of hard mineral
fuel in the Moscow region. The table shows that the amount of
anthracite imported into the Moscow region rose from 16 millions
in 1910 to 75 millions in 1913 ; i. e., it increased 4.7 times in three
years,' while the general import of mineral fuel frôm the Donetz
Basin into the Moscow region increased three times for the same
period of time. The consumption of coal in the Moscow region
always depended on the amount of imported mineral oil. These
two products always competed with each other, with varying
success. At present the general industrial outlook is such that
we have no reason to expect an increase in the output of mineral
oil and a reconquest of the Moscow region by it. Consequently,
the growth of the region's industries will in the future continue
to demand increased coal import and a corresponding adjustment
of the freight and road capacity of the lines running from the
Donetz Basin into this region.
Given our enormous distances, any superfluous haul of a
product as bulky, cheap, and at the same time as important for
industrial development as is coal means countless losses gen¬
erally. Therefore the constantly growing northward freight
stream must be handled by a railway traced so as to form the
shortest line between the mines and Moscow and adapted to the
needs of mass freight traffic. The trunk line Rostov-Shterovka-
Moscow would, in the first place, solve this transit problem.
It will, furthermore, serve a number of new coal mines and pass
through rich regions which are at present almost completely
deprived of railroad communication.
The need for such a line naturally follows from the consid-
15
erations and figures covering the import of coal from the Donetz
Basin into the Moscow region, which were cited above. Further¬
more, there is ground to believe that the output of coal will in
the future grow at a more rapid rate than has hitherto been the
case. A number of new railroads are at present in the process of
construction in the coal mining regions, for the purpose of serv¬
ing new coal mines of great richness. In the region of the coal-
carrying branches Grishino-Rutchenkovo and Grishino-Dobro-
polye, which are at present in the process of construction, a coal
output of 70 million poods is expected yearly. The construction
of the following branch lines has been authorized : Removskaia,
Dolzhansk, Rudnichnaya, Karakovo (Donetz-Grushevo), The
Bryansk and Novosiltzevo Mines, The Karl Mine, the "Russian
Providence," and Yenakievo. The freight attracted by these
lines will amount to 110 million poods of coal and anthracite
yearly, at the least. The construction of the new line Rodakovo-
Likhaya is being completed. The territory of this line alone
will yield 45 million poods of coal, according to the estimates
of the Commission of New Railroads and the Kharkov Mining
Committee. According to the conclusions of the same Commis¬
sion, the coal transportation of all the lines enumerated above
will amount to 225 million poods yearly.
The Congress of Mining Industrials of Southern Russia has
requested the Government to build eight new feeding branches.'''
As there is at present a marked scarcity of coal on the market,
the construction of most of these lines, which will add many
millions of poods of mineral fuel, should be considered a matter
of prime importance.
All the information at our disposal indicates that a rapid
increase in the coal transportation is inevitable, and that the
critical state of our industries' coal supply threatens to become
* These branches are as follows:
1. From the Grachi station of the South-Eastern R. R. to the
village Yekaterininskaya, Province of the Don Cossacks... .20 verst
2. From the Rovenetz deposit to the Daryevka station, Yeka-
terina Railroad 6 "
3. From Komendantskaya station, Yekaterina R. R. to the mines
of A, D. Kharajayev's Successors 9 "
4. Extension from the Shchetovo branch from the Zhelezo station
5. From the Boldyrevo Deposit to the 10th verst of the Chist-
yakovo branch of the Yekaterina R. R 6 "
6. From the Makeyevo Deposit to the Khartzysk station 5 "
7. From the Sutagan station to the Mstzikhovskaia station,
N. D. R. R. 16 "
8. From the Sukhetz station of the Grishino-Dobropolye line.... 4 "
16
a chronic phenomenon. The immediate construction of an un¬
loading line of high capacity will alone remedy the situation.
Other Exits from the Donetz Basin.
The line Rostov-Shterovka-Moscow alone will hardly be able
to meet the needs for the export of coal and anthracite. A line
connecting the Shuya-Ivanovo industrial section with the Donetz
Basin will, no doubt, become necessary in the future. The line
Murom-Tambov-Donetz Basin, the part of which from Murom
to Tambov has already been approved by the Commission of
New Railroads, would serve the purpose.
Furthermore, to export coal in the Northern and North¬
western direction it will be necessary to construct the line
Liman-Orel, which, with the completion of the trunk line Orel-
Tzarskoye Selo now being constructed, will constitute the short¬
est road from the Donetz Basin to the Petrograd region and the
Baltic provinces. An extension from Orel to Moscow would
form an important new trunk line, which, besides, would pass
through a thickly populated territory insufficiently served by
railroads.
The export of coal, which has increased in recent years, will,
no doubt, necessitate the construction of a line running from
Shterovka to Mariupol.
Freight Capacity of Single Track Lines.
The figures cited above regarding the growth of the export
of mineral fuel, however significant they may be in and by them¬
selves, will throw even more light on the situation, if we take
into consideration how much freight a single track or a double
track line can carry without difficulty.
To avoid abstract and groundless theorizing, it wilTbe best
to examine the work of the single track sections which at present
export Donetz coal. The Lozovaya-Foltava-Kiev line is typical
in this respect. Now, how many poods are carried by this line
one way yearly ? The section Romodan-Lubny is the most con¬
gested portion of this line. In 1913, 121 million poods of all sorts
of freight, including 100 million poods of Donetz coal passed
through this section. Both ways the line carried 145 million
poods. In other words, working mostly one way, the road was
particularly adapted to the export of the products of the Donetz
17
Basin, for, in this case, the work in one direction undoubtedly
increases the road capacity of the line. Consequently, it may be
concluded that the maximum of mineral fuel a single-track line
will carry is 100 to 120 million poods yearly.
Other lines will carry even less freight, depending on the
coefficient of irregularity and on the nature of the freight. Thus,
the line Kharkov-Balashov carries one way much less freight.
The tonnage (in pood-verst per verst) of a number of
typical single-track sections is given in the table on the fol¬
lowing page.
Let us consider the highly typical section of the Vladikavkaz
Railroad between Beslan and Prokhladnaya, where a second
parallel track is now in the course of construction. In 1913, this
single track line was working to the limit of its capacity. It was
absolutely incapable of carrying more than it actually carried.
Both ways the section transported 165 million poods of freight,
of which number 93 million poods were transported one way.
The section Navlya-Bryansk is also in an exceedingly critical
state. This line receives two freight currents : one originates
on the North-Donetz Railroad and consists of Donetz products
shipped in the direction of Moscow ; the other flows from the
South-Western provinces in the same direction and consists of
other freight. This line transported, in one year, 169 million
poods of freight, of which 109 million poods were carried in the
direction of the main freight current. Comparing these figures,
we arrive at the conclusion that a single track line running from
the Donetz Basin cannot handle more than 100 to 120 million
poods of new freight, counting transportation in the main direc¬
tion alone. On the other hand, we know that the yearly increase
of the output of Donetz coal alone amounts to 158 million poods.
Consequently, to insure the untrammeled development of as
powerful a freight producing unit as is the Donetz Basin, it is
necessary, speaking theoretically, to build one new road every
year.
It may be asked whether the existing double track trunk
line of the Moscow-Kursk Railroad could not meet the needs for
northward coal export. Unfortunately, the Moscow-Kursk Rail¬
way is not at all adapted to the transportation of a large amount
of freight. As a matter of fact, in 1913 the line worked to the
limit of its capacity. This road forms' a part of a very important
18
TABLE 4
SECTION OF
RAILROADS
Ryazan-Ural R. R.
Atkarsk-Rtistchevo
Paveletz-Kashira (double
track between Kashira
& O'zherelye)
Southern R. R.
Yasinovataya-Kr. Toretz.
Dolinskaya-Nikolayev . ..
South-Eastern R. R.
Valuyki-Liski-Talovaya .
Talovaya-Novok'hopersk
Povorino-Balashov ....
Valuyki-Kupyansk
Chertkovo-Ostrozhka ...
Yekaterina R. R.
Pyatikhatki-Vezchny Kut.
Mushketovo-Y asinovataya
Rostov-Taganrog
Gosudarev - Bairak - Niki-
tovka
V erkhovtzevo-Dolgintzevo
Vladikavkaz R. R.
Groznyi-Beslan
Beslan-Prokhladnaya ...
Moscow-Riazan-V oronezh
R. R.
Poltava-Romodan
Romodan-Lubny
Lubny-Kiev
Year
Number
of
tracks
1910
1
1913
1909
1
1913
1910
1
1913
1909
1
1913
1909
1
1913
1
1909
i
1913
1
1909
1913
X
1909
1
1913
X
1909
1913
1909
1
1913
I
1909
1
1913
1909
1913
1
1909
1
1913
i
1910
1913
1
1910
1
1913
1
1910
1913
1
1910
1
1913
1
1910
1
1913
19
Pood-versts
per verst
F orward
Return
60.0
17.7
61.0
24.1
70.8
10.1
87.6
15.7
' 54.8
21.0
109.5
32.6
114.2
3.9
102.9
5.8
38.4
41.7
40.0
81.2
35.0
50.2
42.0
60.0
14.5
29.8
37.9
56.0
61.9
20.2
112.0
23.7
12.0
113.0
15.0
116.0
73.0
9.0
120j0
15.0
32.0
45.0
49.0
81.0
79.1
13.9
101.1
19.7
27.4
37.9
54.3
131.1
67.2
33.2
80.8
63.2
70.8
38.3
93. 0
72.5
68.2
14.4
106.1
18.0
75.4
16.4
113.2
22.0
68.4
14.5
102.0
19.0
Average yearly
per cent, of increase
Forward
Return
• • •
• • •
12
• • •
19
33
12
• • •
12. 2
• • •
24
• • •
40.2
21.9
20
• • •
6
7
16
14
14
20
• • •
10.4
24.5
61.5
• • •
30.1
10.4
^.8
19
8
17
11
16
10
passenger trunk line. The passenger traffic is bound to grow on
it and reduce the remaining road capacity, which might be used
for, the dispatch of freight trains.
Along this line there are large urban centres, such as Ser¬
pukhov, Tula, Orel and Kursk, and farther on Kharkov,
Slavyansk and Rostov. The rapid growth of these cities leads
to an increase in the volume of local freight and hinders the
movement of transit freight. Besides, the passenger traffic in
the vicinity of large centres, such as Moscow or Kharkov, is so
heavy that it reduces the number of freight trains which can be
dispatched. The arrival in Moscow of suburban trains and of
direct passenger trains from distant points is so scheduled that
from 5 to 10 A. M. and from 5 to 10 P. M. the dispatch of freight
trains is almost impossible. The latter must be dispatched in
the remaining 14 hours. Of course, there is a way of remedy¬
ing the situation by laying additional tracks at the sections of the
highest accumulation of passenger trains. For this reason, it
has been suggested that a third and fourth track should be
built on the section of Podolsk-Moscow where the passenger
traffic reaches the maximum of intensity. This measure will, no
doubt, increase the road capacity of the Moscow-Kursk Railroad,
but it will by no means solve the problem of handling the enor¬
mous mass of Donetz freight.
In general, it is not a sound policy to use a line carrying
mostly a passenger traffic, for the transportation of a large freight
tonnage. The need is felt for the differentiation of railroad lines
into passenger roads and freight roads, in agreement with the
prevailing type of traffic handled by them. The passenger lines
should be provided with all the necessary safety devices, while
the freight lines may for some time go without all these expen¬
sive devices. From this standpoint, it would be best to adapt the
trunk line Moscow-Kursk-Kharkov-Lozovaya-Rostov for passen¬
ger traffic, especially since this line passes through many large
cities, which are to feed the currents of passenger traffic:
In recent years a good deal of attention has been given to
the problem of organizing a regular service of refrigerator trains.
This service will demand the introduction of special express
trains made up of refrigerating cars, and will also tend to reduce
the road capacity of the line as far as ordinary freight trains are
concerned. The "refrigerator" service will, no doubt, have to
20
be left to the Moscow-Kursk-Lozovaya-Rostov line for the reason
that it is serving a thickly populated region.
Thus, the growth of passenger traffic, the need for the in¬
troduction of "refrigerator" service, which is vital for the solu¬
tion of the acute problem of supplying the population of our
large cities with food, and, finally, the unsuitability of the
Moscow-Kursk Railroad, with its large angle of inclination
(0.008), for heavy freight traffic—all these circumstances preclude
the possibility of transforming this road into a first-class transit
trunk line. At present, the Moscow-Kursk Railroad is still able
somehow to cope with the enormous freight tonnage it is called
upon to handle, but we cannot count upon this line in the future.
4.—Petrograd-Omsk.
The next problem which has attracted much attention is the
urgent necessity of unloading the northern exit from Siberia via
Yekaterinburg along a line running from Perm to Vyatka,
Vologda, Obukhovo and the Baltic ports. The matter was re¬
peatedly discussed both in local District Committees and in the
Central Committee. The problem of reinforcing the Northern
exit from Siberia has long since attracted the attention of the
people and institutions in charge of our railway system.
The growth of the traffic along that direction is shown in
the following table :
Railway Sections
Period
of
time
Average
yearly
increase
in traffic
intensity
in the
eastward
direction
Yekaterinburg-Perm . .
1910-1913
27%
Perm-Vyatka
1909-1913
22%
Vyatka-Kotelnich ....
i(
■ 36%
Kotelnich-Sharya
((
32%
Sharya-Nikola-Poloma.
n
32%
Nikola Poloma-Buy..,.
((
31%
Buy-Vologda
a
33%
Vologda-Cherepovetz .
32%
Cherepovetz-Tikhvin .
((
27%
Tikhvin-Zvanka
ti
27%
Zvanka-Obukhovo ....
• a
28%
Passenger traffic
in pairs of trains
Existing
in 1913
Expected
in 1918
S to 6
3
21
These data, illustrating as they do the tremendous growth of
the freight current flowing from Siberia into European Russia,
do not, however, furnish the basis for the determination of the
road capacity necessary to handle the existing freight, for the
amount of freight tonnage is not uniformly distributed over the
year. This holds especially true of the roads carrying so-called
"season" freight, to which belongs the line under consideration.
The road capacity must correspond with the highest amount
of freight that may be expected at any point of the long road
from Siberia to the Baltic ports. The only true method of calcu¬
lating the future amount of traffic must be based on the number
of cars which actually passed through a section of the road dur¬
ing a limited period, for the tonnage of a yearly period is of too
general a nature. In determining the growth of the traffic and
its future distribution these figures can be used only as auxiliary
material.
The natural growth of the traffic carried by the Northern
roads connecting Siberia with European Russia is not the only
circumstance that must be taken into consideration. Two new
factors will appear in the near future and profoundly influence
Siberian transportation. One is the construction of the lines
Yekaterinburg-Kazan and Nizhni Novgorod-Kotelnich, which in
opening new exits for the Siberian freights will produce deep
changes in the freight currents. The other factor is the con¬
struction, which is now well under Way, of a number of lines
perpendicular to the Trans-Siberian, namely Atchinsk-Minusinsk,
Altai, Kulundino, and also the West-Ural, East-Ural and Troitzk-
Kustanai Railroads. These railways will, no doubt, attract a
considerable amount of freight, which will swell the general
freight traffic between European Russia and Siberia.
The efïect of these new forces must be gauged with utmost
precision. The influence of the roads now being built is esti¬
mated on the basis of the data regarding the amount of freight
they draw away from or attract to the existing roads, which data
were collected by the Commission for New Railways. The esti¬
mate of the effect of new roads is based on the transportation
statistics for 1911. As the configuration of the net, which was
dealt with, was assumed just the same as it was to obtain in
1918, it follows that the ratio, in %%, of freight drawn away
from a definite section to its aggregate transit traffic will be
in 1918 the same as it was in 1911. The same principle underlies
22.
the division in the junctions of new freight tonnage, which is
expected to be created by new lines.
The main conclusions derived from the study of the effect
of the new lines in the Northern districts show clearly that the
freight drawn away by the Kazan-Yekaterinburg and Nizhny-
Kotelnitch trunk lines is fully compensated by the freight at¬
tracted by the roads which are now in the process of construc¬
tion, so that the Northern trunk line, when the new lines are
constructed, ^vill be in the same situation as it is at present.
The line Petropavlovsk-Kokchetav has not been taken into
consideration, for the reason that its construction has not been
definitely authorized. But this road, which is a matter of vital
importance for the locality, will surely be built in the near future.
It will dispatch up to 120 cars westward.
The very high percentage (20 per year) of increase is ac¬
counted for by the importance the Northern direction has as a
trunk line connecting the Ural and Siberia with the capital and
the sea. Consequently, the figures cited cannot be considered
exaggerated.
The Importance of the Ural as an Industrial Centre.
In late years the industrial life of the Ural has been marked
by an awakening and a reconstruction on a new basis. The Ural
is beginning to work up on the spot various half products. Many
mills, such as the Lysva, Kythtym, Sergink-Ufaley, Nikolo-
Pavdiaa, Upper Iset, are transformed into enormous corporate
enterprises and increase their output. We must look forward
to a further growth of the Ural industries in the future. It has
lately been suggested that all the munition factories should be
transferred to the Ural. This development expressed itself in the
growth of traffic on the Perm Railroad. In 1909, this line car¬
ried 53,261,000 poods of ore, iron, cast iron, sheet iron, coal,
charcoal, copper and salt. In 1913, its tonnage increased to
89,858,000 poods. In 1909, the Petrograd and Baltic regions
received from Ural 1,286,000 poods of iron, steel and cast iron.
In 1912, the export of these products into the same regions
increased to 2,662,000 poods.
In the future the Ural will get two new trunk lines : the
West-Ural and the East-Ural Railroads."^ In addition, the con-
* Both railroads are already open for operation during the war.—
Translator.
23
struction of two other lines has been authorized: "The Society
of Ural Branches" and Orsk-Berdyaush. These lines are bound
to stimulate the industrial development of the Ural and, hence,
its exchange with the capital and the Baltic Sea. With the eco¬
nomic unfoldment of this rich region, the growth of transporta¬
tion will become even more intense than it was during the above-
mentioned years, "when the Ural industries were yet in the stage
of organization and acquisition of markets for their products.
Turning to Siberia and its exchange with the capital and the
Baltic ports, we also observe a steady growth of freight traffic.
In 1907, 26,235,000 poods of freight passed through the Chelya¬
binsk Station to the Siberian Railroad. In 1912, the tonnage in¬
creased to 52,835,000 poods. For the years 1909-1912, the ton¬
nage of the transit freight amounted to 26% to 33% of the entire
freight carried by the section Vyatka-Obukhovo. ' During this
period of time the average increase of transit in the direction of
Obukhovo amounted to 23% per year. Local freight received
and shipped in the same direction increased during the same
period 18% per year on the average. Therefore, 20% may be con¬
sidered the average increase in the future. Consequently, to
adapt the Northern line to the expected freight tonnage, it is
imperative to lay a second track throughout the whole of the
Yekaterinburg-Obukhovo line.
This will not, however, be a rational solution of the problem,
for the following reasons. The line Vyatka-Petrograd, as the
terminal section of the Great Siberian trunk line, which connects
Siberia and the Ural with Petrograd, as the capital and the
nearest seaport, has a tremendous, it may be said without exag¬
geration, world importance. Connecting as it does such impor¬
tant centers as Perm, Vyatka, and Vologda with the Northern
Ural and Petrograd, this line never lacks freight. Besides, a
number of branches either aùthorized, as Byeloozero, Makaryev,
Omutnino, or planned bv the Regional Committees, as Soligalich-
Chukhloma-Galich and Vetluga, will fully compensate the line
for the transit traffic, which may be drawn away by a new
unloading road. It is also necessary to take into consideration
the increase of traffic in the direction of Archangel, as a result
of changing the existing narrow gauge road into a broad gauge
road.*
* This reconstruction already took place during the war.—Translator.
24
The rapid growth of traffic on the Northern line is a testi¬
mony to the important part played by it in the freight exchange
of the country. The Perm-Petrograd road must be recognized
as a trunk line of first-class importance. Perm-Petrograd is not,
however, the shortest line between the terminal points. These
considerations led to the question whether the construction of
an unloading road would not be preferable to the layiñg of a
second track. The Petrograd-Krasnoufimsk-Omsk line would
very well serve this purpose.
•iiJ:
The Petrograd-Rybinsk section would at the same time be
the terminal section for the Petrograd-Kinel line which is being
planned. As for the Krasnoufimsk-Kostroma line, which is
merely a variation of the Krasnoufimsk-Kotelnich line suggested
for investigation by the Budget Commission of the Duma, it will
unload the Perm-Vologda-Petrograd line. This line will, no
doubt, be valuable not only as a transit railway but also as a local
road. The parts of the governments of Kostroma, Vyatka, and
Perm, through which the road passes, are sufficiently populated,
having a density of 40 to 50 people to a square verst. In the
vicinity of Krasnoufimsk there are considerable stores of wheat,
farther west there is the zone of oats, and still further west there
is the forest zone. Under these conditions, the local importance
of the road is immense. The local value of the Rybinsk-Petrograd
section is also obvious. Crossing the government of Novgorod,
this road will here serve several cities, such as Vesyegonsk,
Ustyuzhna, Mologa, and numerous forest regions. Finally, as
the terminal section of so enormously important a trunk line as
the Petrograd-Kinel road, it will form a direct exit toward Petro¬
grad from the Volga Basin, the South-Eastern region and
Tashkent. Thus, the construction of the Petrograd-Krasnou-
fimsk Railroad is imperative both from the standpoint of the
Northern transit traffic and from that of the local needs of the
territory through which it will pass.
To conclude this survey of the needs of the Northern por¬
tion of our net. We must turn our attention to the lines connecting
Siberia with the Ural region.
At the end of the year 1913, there was opened for operation
a road extending from Tyumen to Omsk, east of Yekaterinburg.
At present, this line is already congested, and east of the Ural
there exists the same urgent need for the construction of a second
25
track on the Siberian or Omsk Railroad* as far as Omsk. The
urgent need for a new line east of Krasnoufimsk, running per¬
haps as far as Omsk, is emphasized by the fact that, according
to information communicated to the recent Congress of Ural
Mine Owners, the captains of the Ural Mining Industry were
planning to get from the Kolchugino deposit** up to 60,000,000
poods of coal and coke for their plants. Consequently, there
arises a need for a new exit from Siberia. The problem of open¬
ing such an exit from Omsk to Yekaterinburg can be solved in
various ways. We have the alternative of either laying a new
road between Omsk and Yekaterinburg or crossing the Ural
and connecting with the new road—with the Krasnoufimsk-
Kostroma line, which is being planned here. In case this plan
is found to be too expensive, it will be necessary to lay second
tracks. For this purpose it will be most advisable to select not
the Tyumen-Omsk but the Omsk-Kurgan line. Then a new
line might be constructed from Kurgan to Shadrinsk, and the
Shadrinsk-Sinarskaya section would form an exit for this line
in the direction of Yekaterinburg.. It is immaterial which of
these two plans will be adopted. The essential fact is that Siberia
is in need of a new exit.
Thus, having analyzed the conditions prevailing on the
Northern lin^s, we arrive at the conclusion that it is necessary
either to lay a second track or to build a new railway between
Omsk and Petrograd, a distance of nearly 3,000 versts. The con¬
siderations adduced above show, beyond the possibility of a
doubt, that the second solution should be preferred.
5.—AlexandreV Gai-Charjui.
Turning to the new railroads which could relieve our net, it
is necessary to mention the congested sections of the Tashkent
Railway. In 1913, because of poor crops, the Tashkent line did
not work intensely. But if we study the work of this line for a
number of years, we see that as early as 1909 the road had con¬
siderable difficulties in handling its freight. We must further
take into consideration the natural growth of traffic and also the
fact that we are building new railways in Middle Asia ; for in-
* The main Siberian trunk line is administratively divided into two
"roads"—the Omsk-road, westward from Novonikolaevsk, and the
Tomsk-road, eastward from the same point.
** In Tomsk Province, in Central Siberia.
26
stance, thè Bokhara line, and short branches to the Tashkent
line, thus adding to the tonnage the latter is called upon to
handle. Under these conditions the need for a second track on
this line is highly probable. Should, however, a new road be
preferred to the second track, it will be found that a line connect¬
ing Alexandrov Gai with Charjui would serve the purpose. This
road figures in several plans of railroad construction. As it will
serve the mineral oil wells of the North-Caspian region, it will
be of immense local significance. It will, furthermore, serve the
Khiva oasis and handle part of the cotton freight, which will be
attracted by the new Bokhara Railway.
6.—Vinnitza-Starokcnstantinov-Cracow.
Finally, if we turn to the territory drained by the Vistula
and to the South-Western region, we notice that here too the
entire net from Kovel to Strzemeshchitze and from Warsaw to
Granitza and Skernevitzy, and further on to Gherby, was con¬
gested as early as 1913. An excellent unloading road would be a
line running parallel to the existing Vistula Railways in the di¬
rection Vinnitza-Starokonstantinov-Tomashev and further either
across the territory of Poland toward Sandomir or, as we hope,
across Galicia as far perhaps as Cracow. This new railroad is
absolutely necessary for the country. As far back as ten years
ago the Government was requested to authorize its construction,
but for purely strategic reasons the permission was not granted.
Of course, in speaking of this road we must remember that we
may have to deal with a new factor : when Galicia will become
our territory, the powerful double-track trunk line which exists
here will in the future draw away part of the freight now handled
by the North-Western Kovel line. But the region is so rich, the
population so relatively dense (120 people per square verst) that
a new railraad will be found necessary.
7.—Strzemezhitze-W arsaw.
Finally, as the last unloading railway let us mention the
Strzemezhitze-Warsaw line. It will shorten the line of commu¬
nication between the highly developed industrial regions of
Poland and facilitate the export of Dombrovo coal into Warsaw
-and further.*
* Under present conditions, when it is difficult to expect to receive
English coal in northwestern Russia, this line becomes of prominent
importance not only for Poland, but for Russia.
27
We have enumerated here seven new railroads which would
reinforce our system and assist it in coping with the traffic, which
has greatly increased in late years.- Naturally, previous plans of
railroad construction did not provide for some of these lines. Any
other scheme of railroad construction which may be elaborated
in the future will have to take into account the most outstanding
feature of our railroad practice in recent years ; namely, the con¬
gestion of our railway net and its abnormally intense work.
PIONEER RAILROADS
The construction of the roads of the second category ; i. e.,
local railways, is guided by other principles. Their role and the
degree to which they are necessary to develop and secure the eco¬
nomic welfare of the country are admirably characterized in
General Petrov's work, entitled "Report on the Development of
the Russian Railway Net," St. Petersburg, 1912. (Volume XC
of the proceedings of the "Special High Commission for the In¬
vestigation of Railroading in Russia.")
Among these lines we may distinguish the following groups :
(1) Pioneer roads; that is, those which are intended to serve new
territories and introduce new freights and values into the railroad
»
system ; (2) Roads binding urban centers either among them¬
selves or with regions whose products can be made to enter the
circulation of commodities only by laying a railroad line for
them; and finally, (3) Feeding lines intended for a more or less
narrow task of serving definite interests.
It must be pointed out, first of all, that there are numerous
regions in Russia which in themselves, irrespective of area and
population, deserve to be provided with local railways, railways
perhaps of a simplified type.
1.—Roads to Administrative Centers and Individual Towns.
In fact, every administrative center—these are so numerous
in our country, and many of them are far removed from railroad
lines—as well as every inhabited place with a sufficient industrial
and trading population, even if not officially named a city, in it¬
self fully justifies the construction of a branch line, if even of a
technically imperfect type. Consequently, one of our tasks is to
ascertain which of our urban centers are capable of development
and, therefore, eligible for a branch, railway.
28
For this purpose we have drawn a map on which the urban
centers which have at present no railroads are marked with aster¬
isks and circles. This map contains all the administrative centers
as well as towns and hamlets with a population exceeding 10,000,
which are situated at a considerable distance from a railroad.
Their number us very high. There are districts in the Govern¬
ment of Voronezh, below the city of Bobrovo, on the River Don,
where there are many villages with a population exceeding 10,000.
The same situation prevails in some districts of the Govern¬
ment of Taurida, situated on the River Bug, also in the Govern¬
ment of Stavropol and in Trans-Caucasia, i. e., in very rich re¬
gions. Naturally, such regions where the population is crowded
in definite points deserve either to have branch railroads termin¬
ating at their main centers constructed, or that the trunk lines
in such regions should be projected through these centers.
Thus, a new task is set to the statistical study of Russia. In
addition to the natural resources of the various regions and the
distribution of the population over them, we must also study the
grouping of the population and its gravitation to definite centers.
Such a study will be of especial value in planning the route of
the railroads, for the Government usually has to deal with a great
many local requests coming from cities and individuals which
often exclude each other.
2.—Routes Serving Unexploited Resources.
The second guiding principle for the construction of such
railroads as will attract most new freight is based on the study of
the natural resources and productive forces of individual locali¬
ties, for it is possible to get freight only where this freight exists
in a potential state. If we discover, for instance, deposits of min¬
eral oil at Ukhta and in the Trans-Caspian region at Emba, it is
necessary to consider the construction of a railroad for the ex¬
ploitation and export of this valuable material. We must assist
our cotton industry, even if only by branch lines, for without
them the expenses incurred by the State for the irrigation, ameli¬
oration and colonization of our middle Asiatic possessions will
hardly achieve their purpose. Finally, a new problem has re¬
cently arose in the south; namely, the lack of sugar beets for
our sugar industry. A close study of the situation shows that the
absence of branch lines is one of the causes which hinder the
29
growth of sugar beet plantations. Thus, the planning of local
roads or branch lines must be based on the study of local natural
resources. In this respect, the Ural region presents a special
interest, as I have already had occasion to mention.
The Ural Region,
The Ural region possesses a great number of industrial
plants which have been there for centuries. Most of them situ¬
ated far away from railroad routes, for in former times the ten¬
dency was to hug the rivers as the best local means of communi¬
cation. It is a matter of national importance to build branch
lines which would serve these plants. At present, much has al¬
ready been done to prepare the ground for this work. A special
corporation is being formed for the construction of Ural branch
lines. In addition, the Treasury, in its special investigation of
the branch lines of the Perm R. R. has devoted a sufficient
amount of time to the Ural region. In the data regarding the
tonnage carried by the Perm R. R. during the period 1909-1913,
we find indirect information about the growth of the Ural indus¬
tries. This growth is characterized by the following figures :
Tonnage of the Perm R. R. in
Nature of Freight
thousands of ooods
1909
1911
1912
1913
1. Iron and Chrome Ore
10,330
16,478
25,187
26,777
2. Iron and Steel
9,025
10,040
12,372
12,481
3. Cast Iron
7,566
12,955
13,472
13,478
4. Sheet Iron
562
1,170
1,406
1,567
5. Coal i
21,048
18,179
26,295
25,270
6. Charcoal
2,255
3,063
4,967
6,483
7. Copper and Latten
239
503
755
826
8. Salt
2,236
2,494
2,469
2,706
Total. ... !
53,261
64,883
86,923
89,858
-}- 69%, or per year -j- 17%
This data shows that with each year a larger amount of
mining products, the output of which is steadily growing, was
carried by the Perm R. R. In this connection, it may be observed
30
that the markets for the products of the Ural industries are grow¬
ing larger and more secure throughout the Empire.
The information at our disposal about the development
of the mining industries in the Ural region in recent years war¬
rant our belief that nowhere in Russia will branch lines be more
beneficial for the general quickening of the region, and for the
supplying of the trunk lines "with new freight, than in the Ural
region. In addition to branch lines, this region stands in need
of a number of trunk lines, both export and local. At present
three railroads are already in the process of construction ;
namely—the Northeast Ural R. R. (Yekaterinburg-Tavda-Ala-
payevsk-Saitkovo-Bogdanovich) ; the West Ural R. R. (Lysva
Foundry-Berdyauch), and the important Kazan-Yekaterinburg
line. Authorization has also been granted for the construction
of the Orsk-Troitzk* and Upper UraU"^ (Berdyauch-Kiskan)
lines in southern Ural.
Southern Ural.
To give free exit to the freights of the south Ural region
westward it is desirable to build a Troitzk-Verkneuralsk-Ster-
litamak-Buzuluk line, "with a branch to Abdulino, and also a road
running from the Magnet Mountain southward, perhaps as far
as the Sara station of the Orenburg-Orsk line, which is now
being built. This road would serve that part of the southern
Ural which is most fertile and rich in mineral wealth.
The East.
The roads which are either being constructed or planned
in the East of European Russia will also facilitate the exit from
the Ural and from Siberia. Such is the recently opened Chishmy-
Bugulma line, the mileage reducing value of which will be fully
revealed only with the completion of the bridge across the Volga
River at Simbirsk.f Such is also the Orenburg-Ufa line, con¬
struction of which has been authorized, and which it is necessary
to extend northward to Perm or Kungur. The line will be the
* In 1915 the construction of 122 versts of the line from the Troitzk
station to the Kartaly station in the reg-ion of the Poltava coal deposits,
was begun.
According to investigations made in 1915, the Troitzk Railroad Co.
considers the Kartaly-Miass line would be the most advantageous way
of carrying out the plan of an upper Ural road,
t Now already completed.
31
pioneer road serving the fertile and rich country,—black earth in
the south, forests throughout the region. The other railroads
which are being planned are : an Orsk-Iletzk, and Uralsk-
Tzaritzyn as an exit from the Ural and the south Siberian trunk
line to the south and southeast of European Russia; and a
Samara-Nikolayevsk-Balakovo line of local significance. The
other roads of the east and the region lying beyond the Volga
River, such as the Orenburg-Kazan-Galitch R. R. (Trans-Volga)
which is a pioneer road running across the rich land ; and the
Kinel-Simbirsk-Nizhni (Arzamas)-Yermolino line, which is a
part of the Petrograd-Tashkent trunk line, will serve as an exit
from middle Asia and the vast eastern railroad-less tracts of land
to Petrograd and northern Asia.
The South-East.
The following two roads will form the continuation of the
above enumerated exits from Siberia, the Ural, and the east :
(1) Saratov-Millerovo line, which connects the Volga River basin
and the region lying beyond the Volga with the Donetz basin,
and which it is necessary to construct first; (2) the Saratov-
Kramatorsk (Slaviansk) line, a road of great local importance
which, if extended from Kramatorskaya as far as Tzarevokon-
stantinovka or Alexandrovsk will bind the Trans-Volga region
with the Black Sea and Azov ports.
For the purpose of connecting the Caucasus and Trans-
Caucasus with the central region and Petrograd, the following
lines are planned: (1) The Perevalnaia R. R. (Tiflis-Sleptzovo
with an extension to the Holy Cross) ; (2) the Holy Cross-
Kozlov line, already approved by the Commission of New Rail¬
ways; and (3) the Vladikavkaz-Tzaritzyn line, which will com¬
pete with the preceding line. The vast grain belt of the Northern
Caucasus, Don province, and the Voronezh, Tambov, and Astra¬
chan provinces will gravitate to the latter two railroads.
The Caucasus.
Similarly fertile regions of the Northern Caucasus, which
are deprived of means of communication, demand the construc¬
tion of the Torgovaya-Divnoye, Divnoye-Astrakhan and Grachi-
Byeloryechenskya lines. Besides, the latter road would open
up the Caucasus for the Donetz coal and make it possible to
exploit new coal deposits on both banks of the Don River.
32
The South-Western region must be connected with the
Crimea, the Black Sea coast and Trans-Caucasia by the shortest
route. For this purpose, a trunk line Tuapse-Kerch (Bagerovo)-
Jankoi-Kherson (Nikolayev)-Uman is being planned. Parts of
this line are already in existence or in the process of construction.
In and by themselves, they will have an enormous local sig¬
nificance.
I
To develop the mining and timber resources of the Caucasus
and to establish health resorts there, it is necessary to build a
number of lines, of which many are already in the process of
construction, while others, for instance, the Yekaterinodar-
Kluchevaya, the Svanet and Tkvarcheli Railroads, are being
planned.
The Crimea.
To keep in the country the tens and hundreds of million
roubles which were yearly exported into foreign health resorts,
it is necessary to take the necessary measures to develop and
establish our own health resorts. For this purpose it is impera¬
tive, first of all, to give a good deal of attention to the Crimean
railroads. There has recently been opened the Sarabuz-Yevpa-
toria line with a branch to Saki, and an authorization has been
granted for the construction of the so-called Crimean Railway
between Sebastopol and Alushta, which it is proposed to extend
as far as Theodosia. Plans have been framed for the building of
two lines : Simferopol-Old Crimea-Theodosia and Simferopol-
Alushta.
Southern Russia.
A Yekaterinoslav-Aleksandrovsk line should be built to
straighten the Orsha-Vorozhba road leading to the Southern
ports, for which permission has been obtained. The Kursk-
Kremenchug road, crossing as it does fertile and densely popu¬
lated regions, which possess developed industries, especially the
sugar industry, will lighten the task of the neighboring con¬
gested railway lines by handling a portion of the freight moving
from the South-West to Moscow and beyond.
The South-Western Region.
Immediate railroad development is a matter of vital impor¬
tance for the densely populated and wealthy South-West. There
have recently been opened the Odessa-Bakhmach and Podolian
33
Railroads, and a number of lines are being built in Bessarabia. ,
A trunk line between Grishino and Rovno is also in process of
construction. A whole system of short lines has been authorized,
and the laying of some of them begun.
The following two lines should be given attention first: (1)
The Kiev-Zhitomir-Shepetovka (or Starokonstantinov)-Yampol-
Krasno line, which will have a great local and strategic value ;
the construction of the Shepetovka-Yampol section with a branch
to Zborach has already begun ; (2) the Kiev-Kishinev trunk line ;
when its extension from Kishinev to the Bessarabskaia Station
is built, this road will form a link between Moscow, Kiev and
Petrograd with the Rumanian frontier (Reni), in a direction
leading straight to Konstantinopol. Petrograd will be connected
with Reni by the Vitebsk-Zhlobin-Korosten-Birzula or the
Zhlobin-Chernigov-Kiev line.
In the Southwest we need the following roads : Akkerman-
Odessa, to connect Bessarabia with Odessa ; Dolinskaya-Uman,
to serve the surrounding fertile region, to export the ore and
unload the neighboring lines; Tzvetkovo-Zhashkov, to replace
the second track on the Tzvetkovo-Fastov section.
The Western Region.
This region needs mostly strategic roads, so that the experi¬
ence of war alone can furnish the basis on which it will be
possible to determine the scale of railroad construction neces¬
sary here. At present, the construction of the following lines
appears desirable: (1) Ryazan-Warsaw ; (2) Podolsk-Kovel ;
(3) Polotzk-Osipovichi-Zhitkovichi-Novograd-Volynsk, which
is the extension of the Ostrov-Polotzk line now being built ; (4)
Oryol-Korosten ; and (5) Kalkuny-Kovno. When the war is
over, some of these lines will, no doubt, be needed for economic
reasons, too, as outlets from the central provinces into Galicia
and Rumania. The Orsha-Mitava line will serve local needs and
will also form an extension of the Donetz-Baltic trunk line,—the
Nizhnednieprovsk-Orsha section of which has already been
authorized.
Thus, we see that the degree to which the railroad needs
of a certain locality are met can be determined by three different
methods: (1) Graphically, by means of maps showing the lo-
34
calities deprived of railroads ; (2) by means of special investiga¬
tions of the productivity of individual districts ; (3) theoretically,
as in the above-mentioned works, especially those of Stoltzmann
and Gen. Petrov, who took the work of the railroads, expressed
in pood-versts or gross income per verst, as the measure of the
need in railways. The coefficients of productivity obtained by
one of these methods furnish a sufficient basis for the determina¬
tion of the order in which the railroad needs of various localities
should be satisfied.
In a peculiar position are those regions of our country, for
which no railroads have hitherto been planned. To this category
belongs, first of all, the North of European Russia. It is the
recent events alone that have forced us to turn our attention to
that vast region and hurriedly to inaugurate the construction of
the Murman Railroad from Petrozavodsk to Soroka and from
Kandalaksha to the Murman coast of the Arctic Ocean.
The North of European Russia.
The North possesses enormous natural resources, namely
forests, fish and furred animals, which are absolutely untouched.
The problem of how to exploit the Northern forests is a matter
of national importance. Our forests are fast disappearing, and
the prices for timber are constantly soaring. The prices of
sleepers and firewood are at present incredibly high. Naturally,
the limited utilization of our boundless forests in the North,
which are well within our reach, is a serious defect in the system
of our national economy. To change this situation, it is impera¬
tive to provide the region with a number of railways. The labor
and capital necessary for the production of new values and the
exploitation of the local natural resources will follow in the wake
of the railway lines. Now, more than ever, is it important to
build timber carrying trunk lines. In virtue of,the political and
economical situation created by the war, trade relations with
England will be extended. The end of the war will usher in a
period of building on an unprecedented scale, and create an un¬
limited market for all sorts of construction materials. Besides,
the export of timber will improve our balance of trade and form
a considerable source of income for the Treasury. This is espe¬
cially important in view of the growth of our national debt and
the necessity of paying interest on it, mostly to foreign investors.
35
Archangel as an Export Harbor for Northern and Eastern Russia.
But the role of the North is not limited to the supplying of
timber. If we turn our attention to the geographic location of
the seas in the North we notice that, for many sections of Russia,
Archangel is the nearest export harbor. And yet, at the present
time, it is mainly the Western ports—Petrograd, Riga and
Reval—that are becoming the chief gateways for the export of
Siberian grain. This fact became particularly manifest with the
elimination of the so-called Cheliabinsk tariff "perelom" or
frontier.* In the past the tonnage of Siberian grain exported
through the above mentioned ports amounted to about 3 or 4
million poods, but in 1913 it was already from 9 to 13 million.
If we consider the markets of Siberia or of the East and their
gravitation toward ports according to their geographic location,
it appears that, with the construction of an adequate railroad,
both Eastern Russia and the whole of Siberia might be 400 to
500 versts nearer to Archangel than to the Western ports. The
very fact that the White Sea is nearest our boundless East—
a region so much in need of exporting arteries—gives it a certain
prominence. The only question is, whether it is possible to
transform Archangel into a port which could take the place of
the Western seaports; whether it is at all possible to establish
conditions in Archangel under which this port might successfully
compete in export with the ports of the Baltic. At present the
outlook at Archangel, it would appear, is not very bright. The
Perm-Kotlas R. R. Was constructed for the express purpose of
directing the Siberian grain via Archangel, thus giving it free
access to the sea by way of combined railway and water traffic,
but the expectations have not been justified. Grain was not
shipped via Kotlas in the expected quantities. Only in 1909,
when the crops were exceptionally good and when all the roads
*Our grain rates are differential, that is, the average pood-verst pay¬
ment is gradually lowering with the growth of the length of transportation.
The unique exception was for the Siberian grain for which the differential
did not exist, and the payment was calculated along the general rate
differential in two. First, the price of transport from the point of
shipm«.nt to Tcheliabinsk was counted, and then from Tcheliabinsk to the
seaport. Both figures were added and in this way the final cost of trans¬
portation received. It is easy to understand that this figure became
greater than if it would be calculated uniformly along the formula of the
grain rate differential. The aim of this regulation was to preserve the
grain production of European Russia from the competition of Siberian
grain. Practically it resulted in forming of a kind of internal frontier,
internal custom, in Tcheliabinsk. Now this regulation don't exist more.
—Translator.
36
and Baltic ports were choked, the Kotlas road handled 9 mil¬
lion poods of Siberian grain. The other years the quantity was
considerably smaller, ranging from 3 to 5 million poods.
The question arises : How is this phenomenon to be ac¬
counted for? Was this situation caused by the inherent defects
of Archangel as a port, or by some other circumstance? A close
scrutiny of this question has shown that the main cause lay not
in the defects of the port of Archangel, but in the conditions of
the Siberian grain trade. At Kotlas the very equipment for the
handling of grain was inadequate and, besides, the Northern
Dvina is available for navigation only during a small part of the
year. The conditions of the grain trade are such that the grain
reaches Kotlas at the time when the Northern Dvina already
begins to freeze and navigation on it ceases, so that the grain
and the capital it represents must be storaged at Archangel for
nearly 9 months and so bear the additional expenses and loss
connected with such storage. Of course, this peculiarity of
the grain export via Kotlas-Archangel means an additional ex¬
pense which the grain trade could not stand.
The Vologda-Archangel Line and Its Shortcomingsi.
As to the other outlet, that is, the Vologda-Archangel line,
it, too, proves inadequately adapted for export traffic. Here
traffic involved a change to a narrow gauge road. Besides, this
line terminates not at Archangel but at the opposite shore, which
is poorly adapted for the unloading and storing of freights.
A survey of the port of Archangel shows that the so-called
Lapomin Bay, 40 miles north of the city of Archangel, is free
from ice nearly 9 months in the year. Freezing and icebergs
hinder navigation mainly in the neck of the White Sea, but this
at a time which does not coincide with the period when the Baltic
ports are ice-bound. Under such circumstances, if a railroad
were constructed to the open sea and if the port of Archangel
were adequately equipped, it would hardly differ in its natural
conditions from the ports of the Baltic. In any case, 9 months
of free navigation is in itself such an important factor in the
export trade that it cannot be ignored, especially since we have
no ocean ports at all. For this reason we must see that at least
a part of the Siberian transport is directed to the White Sea.
In addition to this, the port of Archangel is the best possible
port for the export of timber, and it may become a world center
37
of timber trade. Already at present tens of millions of poods of
timber are shipped there along rivers, and it is at Archangel that
our principal foreign timber trade is concentrated.
The enumerated conditions guaranteeing the possibility of
developing our North are quite sufficient for us to begin thinking
about a network of railroads which, in addition to supplying the
needs of our timber resources, might at the same time serve as
an artery for Siberian freight. Several such roads have been
projected.
1. The Ob-White Sea Railroad.
One of the first projects was the so-called Ob-White Sea
Railroad. It is planned along the following route: From Arch¬
angel via IJkhta to Ob and by a separate branch line to the net
at the Nadezhdinsky works. This road has been considered by
the Commission of New Railroads, and has been found necessary.
2. The Kama-Pechora Railroad.
The second project of the Kama-Pechora railway line has
also been approved by the Commission. This line is only of local
importance and, if extended to Archangel, would coincide with
the Ob-White Sea line.
3. The Kotlas-Soroki Railroad.
It is further quite essential to connect the Kotlas-Soroki line
with the Murman Railroad, which is now being built, in order to
create a direct outlet to the Murman Coast for Siberian freights.
Of course, in the future, when a trunk line is constructed to the
port of Archangel which, after all cannot be open all year round,
it will be very advantageous to have an outlet to the Murman
port, which is probably the only ice-free port in the Empire.
And since the territory served by such a trunk line from Kotlas
or Veliky Ustiug to Shenkursk and beyond will also yield large
quantities of timber freight, this line will, in all probability prove
completely * self-sustaining.
4. Petrograd-Siberia.
Finally, it is quite timely to raise the question of connecting
Petrograd, the Finnish border, and the Baltic ports with Siberia
by the shortest possible route. A trunk line Svir-Vytegra-Kotlas-
Samarovskoye (Ob-Irtysh)-Tomsk and à branch line from the
Vazhiny Station of the Olonetsk R. R. to the Finnish frontier
via Serdobol would serve the purpose. The latter branch line,
by establishing a second link between the Finnish Railroads and
38
the Russian railway system will, besides, make it possible to
direct a considerable portion of the freights past the overbur¬
dened Petrograd junction. This circumstance, with the resump¬
tion of commercial relations with Sweden, and through her with
England, deserves particular attention. The line is necessary
not only as a new and shortest outlet for Siberia to the Murman
region and the ports of the Baltic Sea, but also for the develop¬
ment of the industry and the exploitation of the natural resources
of the vast territory served by the line, and also as a convenient
channel for the export of Siberian freights into the world
markets.
<
Siberia.
Siberia, too, is a country as yet insufficiently provided with
railroads. But in the very near future Siberia will get a con¬
siderable number of new lines. These are as follows : the Amur,
Altay, Kolchugino, Kulundino, and Achinsk-Minussinsk railways.
These roads were authorized mainly at the suggestion of the
Migration Department. The construction of the South-Siberian
Trunk Line has further been authorized. It, too, was laid out
as suggested by the Migration Department. The other lines
which have been authorized are: the Verkhneudinsk-Kyakhta
line, the Kolchugino-Kuznetsk-Telbes line, which forms the ex¬
tension of the Kolchugino R. R. The Commission on New Rail¬
ways has authorized the Lena line (Tulun-Ust-Kut) and the
Tavda-Tobolsk line. This year a preliminary economic survey
will be made for a line running from Port Ayan on the Pacific
Ocean to Nelkan.
It is also certain that to secure the financial stability of the
new Siberian railroad corporations it will be necessary to develop
the railway systems they operate so as to adapt them for the
exploitation of the natural resources of the country. Thus, the
Achinsk-Minusinsk Railway Cotnpany proposes to build the fol¬
lowing lines :
1. Minussinsk-Sayan Ridge-Bielotsarsk. This will be the
shortest route to Mongolia with its great wealth of raw material,
fish and mineral resources.
2. Orositelny-Kuznetsk. This line will cross the fertile
Bey Steppe, which is quite fit for colonization, and reach the
Abakan Iron Works located in a territory rich in timber and ore.
39
3. Achinsk-Yeniseisk. This road, too, will serve a region
rich in resources and potential productivity.
The Altay Railway Company is planning the following lines :
1. A line to Zmeinogorsk for the purpose of developing the
well known local mining industries.
2. A line from Barnaul via Pavlodar to Kolkaman, which
might serve as an outlet for the freights of the fertile grain-
growing regions, rich in coke-yielding coal, zinc, and lead, and
connect them with the South-Siberian Trunk Line. The exten¬
sion of this line from Bayunov (Barnaul) to Kuznetsk by the
Kolchugino Railway Corporation has also been authorized.
Finally, the Kulundin Railway Company proposes to extend and
develop the Tatarsk-Slavgorod line. The extension of this line
in the direction of Semipalatinsk and Verny is necessary in order
to connect Siberia with Central Asia and, via Semipalatinsk,
with the Chinese frontier (to Buran and the Jungar Gates). The
Company is also planning a line from Petropavlovsk to Kokche-
tav, which it will also be logical to extend to Pishpek, Central
Asia. Other desirable lines are as follows : An extension of the
Troitsk R. R. from Kustanai to Kokchetav; a branch line from
Shadrinsk to Kurgan, and the feeding lines : Shadrinsk-Mishkino-
Zverinogolovskaya and Nazyvayevka-Tukalinsk-Tara.
It appears from this survey of the railway needs of Siberia
that most of the enumerated lines are needed for the exploitation
and export of the country's wealth, especially mining products.
The question of establishing an independent steel industry in
Siberia has now become particularly urgent.
It should be stated, however, that at least for the immediate
future Siberia is sufficiently provided with railroads. In the com¬
ing years, in view of the fact that there is a great deal of most
urgent construction work to be done, it would be wise, perhaps,
to proceed at a slower pace in the building of new railways in
Siberia.
The Plan of the Net and Its History.
Turning to the problem of planning the development of
our railroad net as a whole, it should be stated that at the very
outset of our intense railroad construction, that is, after 1908, it
was perceived that the work cannot go on without a plan, with¬
out mapping out a definite scheme of railroad construction. But
we did not succeed in solving the problem at one stroke.
40
In 1909, a Commission under the presidency of late Engineer
O. A. Struve was formed, which recommended a number of
lines, for close investigation, but" not for construction. The Com¬
mission proposed that a mileage of 19,000 versts should be in¬
vestigated: 4,180 versts in 1911, 4,920 in 1912, 3,890 in 1913,
and 6,050 after 1913. The results of the investigations of this
Commission were brought before the legislative institutions. It
was simultaneously asked that the program of investigation
should be approved, and appropriations made by the Ministry
of Ways of Communication for investigations and economic re¬
search. The legislative institutions failed to consider these
projects. Nevertheless, whenever appropriations for investiga¬
tions were solicited, the Ministry of Ways of Communication
generally was guided by the program elaborated by the Commis¬
sion. At present, nearly all the lines planned by vStruve's Com¬
mission have either been built, recommended for construction,
or covered by the plans of investigations conducted by the Min¬
istry.of Ways of Communication.
Let us now consider the plan elaborated by General Petrov,
which is perhaps the only scheme which may properly be termed
a construction plan. The Special High Commission compiled in
1912 a report about the development of the Russian railroad
net. The report included a tentative plan of the development of
the Russian railroad system for the next five years, 1912-1917.
The lines planned fell into three groups: (1) Trunk lines, neces¬
sary to improve communication along the main trade routes of
the country ; (2) trunk lines intended to do away with the isola¬
tion of vast regions and to make them a part of the general
economic life of the country; and, finally (3), branches which
are necessary to serve the country. The mileage of the projected
lines was as follows :
Lines of the first group 19,200 versts
Lines of the second group 8,350 "
Lines of the third group 10,025
37,575 versts
As for the order in which the lines were to be built, the
following program was worked out: In 1912, it was proposed
to build 5,360 versts; in 1913, 5,290 versts; in 1914, 6,470; and
after 1914, 10,530 versts.
41
In 1913, the Ministry of Ways of Communication formed a
special Interdepartmental Commission which held a number of
sessions under the presidency of Engineers Wurzel and Lomonos-
soil. This Commission proposed that during the period of 1914
to 1917 a number of lines, aggregating a mileage of 22,165 versts,
should be investigated. This Commission, just like the one
headed by Struve, did not discuss actual railroad construction.
It merely recommended certain railroad lines for thorough inves¬
tigation in the near future.
Finally, early in 1914, the Department of Railroad Affairs
formed an Inter-departmiental Board under the presidency of
N. E. Ghiatzintoff, Director of the Department. This board was
to elaborate a financial plan of railroad construction for the near
future. The board completed its work in May, 1914, and recom¬
mended a number of new railroad lines for construction, aggre¬
gating a mileage of 27,450 versts, which were distributed over
six years, as follows : In 1915, 12,830' versts ; in 1916, 6,150 versts ;
in 1917, 3,967 versts; in 1918, 3,358 versts; in 1919, 1,370 versts;
in 1920, 320 versts.
It is interesting to put the follo'wing two questions with
regard to planning our railroad construction. To what degree
did the plans hitherto elaborated actually guide the activities of
government institutions, and to what degree did the numerous
lines, the construction of which has in late years been authorized,
enter into the pre.viously elaborated plans?
Unfortunately, the answer is not very encouraging. An ex¬
ceedingly large number of limes, permission for the construction
of which has now been granted, is not mentioned in any of the
plans hitherto worked out, not even in the most thorough plan
which is connected with the name of General Petrov. The
Vorozhba-rOrsha and Petrograd-Orel lines might be cited as an
example. On the other hand, some of the lines which headed
the list of urgently needed railroads given by General Petrov's
plan are still neither built nor recommended for construction.
Thus, for instance. General Petrov proposed to build in 1912 the
following railroads: Voropondvo-Tiflis, Vilna-Moscow, Nizhny-
Kungur, Uman-Kvaloni, Lena and South Siberian trunk line.
Here is the present situation as regards these lines : The Uman-
Tuapse line is only now (in 1916) being considered by the Com¬
mission on New Railroads ; the Voroponovo-Tiflis line was taken
up in 1915 instead of in 1912, and the Commission preferred a
42
rival route, namely, the Kozlov-Slyeptzovo line ; The Vilna-
Moscow line has not as yet been recommended for consideration,
and the need for it, especially at present, should be discussed
anew; the Nizhny-Kungur line was replaced by another road,
the Kazan-Yekaterinburg line, the construction of which is well
under ^vay; the Tuapse-Kvaloni line, now known as the Black
Sea Railroad, is in the process of construction ; the Lena Railroad
has been approved only early this year ; the South Siberian trunk
line has been authorized but its construction will probably be
delayed until th^ end of the war.*
I shall not fatigue the reader by enumerating all the lines
which are included in the less urgent groups of General Petrov's
plan. I shall merely state that many of these lines, far from being
constructed, failed to be considered. Nevertheless, this circum¬
stance does not indicate that the lines are not needed. It merely
testifies to the fact that the policy of our railroad construction
followed a different course than that recommended by the Special
High Commission for the Investigation of Railroad Conditions
in Russia. It is a notable fact that those lines were taken up first
which were proposed by the existing companies and which were
connected with the problem of postponing the redemption by the
Treasury of the roads owned by those companies. Thus, for in¬
stance, the development of the Moscow-Vindava-Rybinsk Rail¬
road net by means of constructing the Orel-Petrograd and Smo¬
lensk-Yuryev lines, and the addition of the Vorozhba-Orsha,
Novobyelitza-Chernigov and other lines to the Moscow-Kiev-
Voronezh railroad were hurriedly taken up and authorized.
Other lines owe their existence to the efforts of newly formed
companies; for instance, the Troitzk company, which, in a very
short period of time, planned and constructed a considerably ex¬
tensive railroad net in eastern Russia. It is necessary, however,
to emphasize that most of the lines which figured in the plan of
the High Commission are at present urgently needed. This plan,
for instance, provided for the construction in 1914 of the Penza-
Kharkov line which is still in project and which is one of the
most urgently needed trunk lines.
Nor shall I enumerate the lines which figure in the latest con¬
struction plan elaborated in the Inter-departmental Commission
under the presidency of N. E. Ghiatzintoff. With the exception
'•'The prediction was not justified; construction began early in 1918.
43
of the Kostroma-Krasnoufimsk line and the two northern rail¬
roads which are the result of most recent study, all the other
lines cover all the projects of Ghiatzintoff.
It is interesting to consider the expenditures involved in the
construction of the railroads provided for in the five-year build¬
ing program. The Ghiatzintofif plan called for approximately 3,127
millions of roubles for new lines only. If to this we add the ex¬
penditures which it would be necessary to incur during the few
years immediately following the five-year period to complete the
constructions previously begun and to develop the existing lines
we shall get the sum of 3,438 millions of roubles. This sum is dis¬
tributed so as to necessitate the expenditure of 2,848 millions of
roubles during the period 1915-1919, or of 500 to 600 millions of
roubles annually.
The Scope of Possible Construction.
Turning to the problem of the feasibility of this plan, we
have first of all to face the following question : Is it possible, with
the technical equipment of our country, aside from the financial
aspect of the matter, to carry out this plan of railroad construc¬
tion? This is one of the most vital problems of the day, and it
should be given a great deal of attention. The Board of Railroad
Construction gave much thought to this matter, and, among
other things, worked out a diagram showing the development of
our railroad construction. If we consider the list of railroads
which are now being built, we see that it involves sufficiently
large figures. The mileage of annual construction is 12,000 to
15,000 versts. This, however, does not mean that we can con¬
struct as many versts yearly. It requires two or three years, and
even more, to build a railroad. Therefore, to determine the actual
mileage of annual construction, the following method was ap¬
plied: It was assumed that the aggregate mileage of construc¬
tion was distributed over the years of construction in proportion
to the amount of capital expended during those years. The mile¬
age of construction calculated upon this basis shows a rather dis¬
couraging situation. In 1902 and the following three years, the
construction mileage was respectively 1,670, 1,500, 1,630, 1,410
versts. Finally, in 1907, the mileage was as low as 340. Then it
began to grow: in 1908 it was 510; in 1909—990; in 1910—1,490,
etc., until in 1914 and in 1915 it reached 3,720 and 4,470 versts,
respectively.
44
This amount must at present be considered the maximum.
Business men and builders know how difficult it is at present to
secure engineers and contractors for the construction work, and
how far behind the mills are in filling their orders. Thus, from
the standpoint of the practical feasibility of the construction plan,
we have ample ground to doubt whether it will be possible to
carry it out. The construction of many roads which have been
found necessary may have to be postponed, while priority may be
granted to those lines which will meet the vital needs of the
country in agreement with the changed political and economic
conditions.
Therefore, it might be concluded that the plan of construc¬
tion is still subject to further elaboration. It must take into ac¬
count both the possibility of execution and the railroad needs of
the country. The latest plan furnished by the Ghiatzintofif Inter¬
departmental Commission is nothing but a list of lines, which in
some form or other were recommended for consideration and
found necessary. The theoretical groundwork on which the re¬
ports of General Petrov and Struve are based, and which, in the
present state of the theory of construction problems, must be
recognized as correct, is absent in the latest plan of 1914. Conse¬
quently, the first thing to be done is to calculate anew the extent
to which the country is served by railroads on the basis of those
coefficients which have been established by previous investiga¬
tions. Furthermore, since the extreme congestion of our main
trade routes has become, as I have shown above, exceedingly
conspicuous, it is necessary that the lines intended to unload the
existing railroads should be constructed first.
Govemment and Private Construction.
I shall now pass to the problem of Government and private
railroad construction. This problem assuiiies an exceptional im¬
portance, in view of the fact that we are facing a vast and respon¬
sible task of building tens of thousands of versts of railroads cost¬
ing billions of roubles, and that we must carry it out in the
shortest possible time.
I shall not repeat the arguments advanced by the advocates
of government and private railroad construction. They are suffi¬
ciently well known. Lately it has been the favorite topic of dis¬
cussion at the meetings of our Society. There is no doubt that
45
the problem 'of choosing between the two systems of construc¬
tion cannot be based on a comparison of the advantages of gov¬
ernment and private operation. The nature of the two groups
of enterprises is so different that they bear no comparison. One
is inclined to think that private and government railroad con¬
struction and operation should co-exist. Private railroads have
done such great services to the country that their elimination is
altogether out of the question.
Private railroads have this indisputable advantage: that in
disposing of their funds they can more extensively meet the needs
of the country, develop auxiliary enterprises, provide for the wel¬
fare of their employes, and better select their administration.
In this respect, some of the private railroad companies are models
of railroad operation. It is, therefore, unwise to strive to elimi¬
nate private railroad enterprises. It must also be taken into ac¬
count that at this time, private initiative may perhaps be more
successful in financing railroads than the State.
At the same time, we cannot fail to take cognizance of sonie
of the deficiencies of private railroading, which have in late years
become evident. The first reproach that was advanced against
private railroads was that they neglected passenger traffic. At
present, this question has lost its acuteness, and we need no
longer dwell on it.
Consitruction of Branch Lines.
But there is another drawback to private railroading which
has not as yet been eliminated, and which cannot be eliminated
without a corresponding modification of the laws regulating it.
We mean the attitude of private railroads to the construction of
branch lines. The problem of branch lines has recently assumed
a great importance. A Society of Branch Lines has been formed.
Its charter is highly peculiar and introduces entirely new prin¬
ciples into our railroading. It establishes the principle that the
income of a branch line includes not only the income derived from
traffic carried by the branch, but also from traffic on the adjacent
trunk line; in other words, the adjacent railroad net participates
in the income of the new enterprise. Although the charter of
this company provides for branch lines built to privately owned
railroads, there is not at present a single such branch line planned
46
or built. Naturally, no private railroad will consent to diminish
its own income by yielding a portion of it to the adjacent branch
line ; so that the Society of Branch Lines is at present doing its
work exclusively in connection with Government railroads.
The construction of branch lines with the obligation to return
the value of the road has been extensively practised in recent
years. This method would appear to be the best method of
equipping our railroad system with feeding branch lines. Never¬
theless, we notice that the government and private railroads diiïer
completely in their attitude toward this method of attracting the
necessary capital for the construction of branch lines. While
the Government exhibits a tendency to use this method exten¬
sively and liberally, the attitude of the private railroads is rather
negative., In late years, the Government has developed the prac¬
tice of granting various privileges tending to improve the con¬
ditions of their existence. For example, they were granted the
right of getting credit not only for the new freight, but also for
all the freights forwarded by the branch line. Participation in
income is given not only on one adjacent road, but on several
Government roads. Finally, interest on the capital invested is
added to that sum.
Private railroads are reluctant to undertake the construction
of branch lines on these conditions. There are cases where pri¬
vate companies did not consent to take over branch lines con¬
structed by their owners, even without the obligation to return
their value. Such an attitude of the private railroads toward
branch lines should be counted against private railroading, es¬
pecially now when, as I have already mentioned, it is planned
to build an extensive net of branch lines intended to serve indi¬
vidual localities. The plan was first worked out by General
Petrov. At his initiative, it was extensively discussed in the Dis¬
trict Committees, and at present there are projects for the con¬
struction of branch lines aggregating a mileage of 3,000 versts.
This entire net is closely connected with the Government rail¬
roads. Private railroads may build branch lines only when their
charters are amended accordingly, and since these roads mostly
yield small profits, the attitude of the private company toward
them is negative. This negative attitude of private companies
came to light in the discussions of separate branch lines by the
District Committees.
47
The Normal Charter and Its Modifications in Connection
With Future Tasks.
When we speak of private railroad construction, we have, of
course, in view the normal charter of private companies which is
at present the predominating type. The charter of one company
differs from that of another in non-essentials only. In view of
the fact that private railroad construction is likely to develop ex¬
tensively in the future, it is important to settle the following
point : Are the principles underlying the normal company charter
at present inflexible, or are there other forms of relationship be¬
tween Government and private companies which would reduce
the deficiencies of private railroading which have been recently
pointed out?
It seems to me that the normal charter cannot be at present
considered as something immovable. In view of the altogether
unusual scale of construction which appears imperative, it might
be practicable in each separate case freely to allow some modifi¬
cations of the existing charter. Private companies, I think,
should welcome such modifications. For example, many of the
projected trunk lines which we now need will no doubt yield con¬
siderable profits. Therefore, if we accept private railroad con¬
struction in the case of these trunk lines, the period before re¬
demption may be, of course, reduced to ten or twelve years. At
present we have already some actual projects in this connection.
The pre-redemption period is not anything inflexible. It should
be lower depending upon the probable profitableness of the line.
The Government should greatly value the right of redemption,
because the moment of redemption is the only occasion on which
the Government can make demands upon the private company
regarding the extension of the road, the construction of branch
lines, and the like. The reduction of the redemption term is ex¬
ceedingly valuable and exceedingly necessary.
Furthermore, since the unwillingness of private companies
to construct branch lines is one of the deficiencies of private rail¬
roading, the Government, in granting charters, should stipulate
definite obligations on the part of the companies regarding the
construction of branch lines. In the charter of the Vladikavkaz
Railroad, the Government retains the right to demand that the
Company build any feeding lines indicated by the Government.
Many private companies will not oppose a similar clause under
certain conditions.
48
A new principle has made its appearance in recent years.
Experience has shown that private corporations, notably pros¬
perous, are not eager to extend their roads if this extension
threatens their profits. At present, some private companies so¬
licit the inclusion of some profitable sections of the projected
railways into their system, and express a willingness to obligate
themselves, when the gross income reaches a certain sum, to
build at the bidding of the Government a definite amount of mile¬
age, even if the new line is not likely to yield any profit. Our
country contains vast regions which entirely lack railroad facili¬
ties, and where railway lines, if built, would no doubt be profitless
for some time. Under these conditions, the right of the Govern¬
ment to prescribe to the companies what railroads they should
build will prove exceedingly valuable. This is the new principle
which it is desirable to apply.
Nevertheless, in speaking of the new clauses which it is de¬
sirable to insert into the charters to promote the interests of the
Government and the country in the operation by private com¬
panies of their enterprises, it is necessary not to lose sight of the
fact that these new rights of the Government will prejudice the
interests of the private companies as commercial enterprises. It
is necessary to take into consideration the fact that the present
status of the money market is not at at all favorable to large in¬
vestments in railroad construction.
A comparatively short while ago, the banks willingly
financed railroad enterprises, hoping thus to attract deposits. At
present, however, conditions have apparently changed ; the banks
no longer need large money reserves, and railroad enterprises
will hardly prove alluring to the banks. It is obvious, then, that
it will be necessary to find new conditions which would make
railroad construction more attractive than other commercial en¬
terprises.
Such measures are already being taken. Thus, the Govern¬
ment has recently allowed a more favorable ratio between the
capital stock and the amount of bond investment, reducing it
from 1:9 to 1:12, and even 1 ;19. At the same time, the rate of in¬
terest on the bonds guaranteed by the Government is raised in
agreement with the present conditions of the money market.
Other measures may have to be taken. It has been pointed
out above that vast regions, rich in natural resources, which lie
49
dormant and completely uninhabited, stretch in the north of Eu¬
ropean Russia, in Siberia, and in Central Asia. Here the prob¬
lems of railroad construction are closely connected with the prob¬
lems of colonization and the inauguration of new industries for
the purpose of utilizing the natural resources. These regions are
sorely in need of pioneer railways. Here the question arises
whether it may not be possible to grant the free use of land and
timber and mining resources in connection with railroad conces¬
sions. We in Russia may have to resort to the method which
was tried in America.
But this new principle is applicable only to the border prov¬
inces. As far as the railroads in the interior of the country are
concerned, it will be necessary to find other means of rendering
railroad enterprises more profitable. It may be perhaps found
advisable to increase the share of profit that goes to the railroad
company. A way may also be found to interest the railroad en¬
terprises in possible economies in construction.
In general, the charter should not be regarded as something
final and not subject to change. On the contrary, it should be¬
come the object of a great deal of creative effort; it should be
capable of adapting itself to the varied conditions of our coun¬
try and to the changing aspects of the times.
Another vital problem is the combination of private com¬
panies into larger units. Lately, a large number of small com¬
panies have come into being, which is hardly a desirable phe-
. nomenon. Fusion companies are desirable, for they reduce the ex¬
penses for management and administration and lead to the for¬
mation of economic units, which are stronger and possess a
greater store of vitality. But the application of the principle of
enlargement of small companies is hindered by the fact that
within their localities there is not sufficient room for the growth
of these companies. Hence arose the idea of combining com¬
panies operating in different regions and of entrusting thern with
the construction of railroads in different localities. The realiza¬
tion of this idea is quite possible and would be very beneficial for
the development of our net.
Given, further, that peculiarity of our country which neces¬
sitates the construction of pioneer lines, which, while profitless
in themselves greatly increase the profit yielded by the system as
a whole, it may be advisable to apply to newly authorized trunk
50
lines, the principle of adding the income derived from traffic on
the existing railways ; the principle formulated in the charter of
the Society of Branch Lines. Suppose we build in a roadless
country ; e. g., Siberia, a railway like the South-Siberian Railroad,
which while first profitless will give the whole railroad net a
large income. It seems that the principle of distributing these
profits among the old and the new roads in a certain proportion
could be applied here with great "success. Such a principle would
possess much vitality.
Finally, let me point out that these principles are not en¬
tirely new. They figure in various reports and presentations
made in late years. A combination of these principles will un¬
doubtedly further the development of private railroading.
I shall conclude my report by giving utterance to a heartfelt
wish that our railroad construction may keep pace with that in¬
tense growth of the productivity of our country, which it has
recently manifested, and that the present events which appar¬
ently threaten to arrest this growth may not prove destructive of
both the productive forces of the country and the development of
our railroad system. There is no reason to fear that the war will
deprive the economic organism of our country of its vitality. On
the contrary, unless-all signs fail, we shall after the war go
through a period of economic efflorescence. But the destinies of
this outburst of economic energy will be conditioned upon the
growth of our railroad system. Toward this goal all the creative
efforts of our economic organism should be directed.
51
PUBLÍCAllÓNS
Ifonroveta Home Ä foreign Trade (à>., ïoc«
iiwBBii«Tiitii>iiMiiiiiiiiitii[tyiiiiiifPiMiiiiíiif iinmi mi ivm " r |t iiihhtii Ii- miiiciiiiiti ni
<aMa»ac<PMMBiPiwwaw»wpiwaaBaa^iiiia»^aa>t>iw>>;l4>i»aapiP»iiwM)«MMíi«)iw^^ im»»« [■iWHrwsiaBiinaM'p» t wft'WB wiw'*»w jfiwumiMKiiiiiMiiiiMwn i «»iwiUMI'I a^aw-aifciHgNBMí«^^
1. "'The Necessity for Russo-American Co-opera¬
tion in Russian Railway Construction.*' By
A. A. Boublikoff.
2. "A Treatise on the Importance of International
Agreement on Financial Rehabilitation After
the War." By A. A. Boublikoff.
3. "The Recovery of the Russian Monetary Sys¬
tem." By A. A. Boublikoff.
4. "The Urgent Problems of Railroad Construction
in Russia and Their Significance to Her Credi¬
tors." By A. A. Boublikoff.,
5. The proposal of the Ministry of Ways of Com¬
munication to Russian Douma about the fixing
of the credits in the budget of extraordinary
expenses of that Ministry for the period of five
years, 1917-1921, for railroad building in con¬
nection with the "Plan of Railroad Construc¬
tion" for these years (official).
IN PRESS
6.
"Russian Forestry." .By V. V. Faas.