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Trans Caspian Railway

 
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The Trans-Caspian Railway (also called the Central Asian Railway, ) is a railway that follows the path of the Silk Road
Silk Road

The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe....
 through much of western Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
. It was built by the Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 during its expansion into Central Asia in the 19th century. During the Soviet period and beyond, the road was administrated from Tashkent
Tashkent

Tashkent is the Capital of Uzbekistan and also of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was 2.18 million....
.

truction was begun in 1879 as a narrow-gauge railway to Kyzyl-Arvat
Kyzyl-Arvat

Serdar is a location in Turkmenistan, located north-west of the capital, Ashkhabad on the road to the Caspian Sea. The population of Serdar is 50,000 people, mainly Turkmen people....
 in connection with the Russian
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 conquest of Transcaspia
Transcaspian Region

Transcaspian Region , or Transcaspia, is the name used from the second half of the 19th century until 1924 for the Russian territory to the east of the Caspian Sea, bounded to the south by Iran's Khorasan Province and Afghanistan, to the north by the former Russian province of Uralsk, and to the northeast by the former Russian protector...
 under General Mikhail Skobelev
Mikhail Skobelev

Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev was a Russian general famous for his conquest of Central Asia and heroism during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78....
.






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The Trans-Caspian Railway (also called the Central Asian Railway, ) is a railway that follows the path of the Silk Road
Silk Road

The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe....
 through much of western Central Asia
Central Asia

Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south....
. It was built by the Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 during its expansion into Central Asia in the 19th century. During the Soviet period and beyond, the road was administrated from Tashkent
Tashkent

Tashkent is the Capital of Uzbekistan and also of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was 2.18 million....
.

History


the Station of Bahmi On the Transcaspian Railway
Construction was begun in 1879 as a narrow-gauge railway to Kyzyl-Arvat
Kyzyl-Arvat

Serdar is a location in Turkmenistan, located north-west of the capital, Ashkhabad on the road to the Caspian Sea. The population of Serdar is 50,000 people, mainly Turkmen people....
 in connection with the Russian
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 conquest of Transcaspia
Transcaspian Region

Transcaspian Region , or Transcaspia, is the name used from the second half of the 19th century until 1924 for the Russian territory to the east of the Caspian Sea, bounded to the south by Iran's Khorasan Province and Afghanistan, to the north by the former Russian province of Uralsk, and to the northeast by the former Russian protector...
 under General Mikhail Skobelev
Mikhail Skobelev

Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev was a Russian general famous for his conquest of Central Asia and heroism during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78....
. It was rapidly altered to the standard Russian gauge of five feet, and construction through to Ashkabad and Merv (modern Mary
Mary, Turkmenistan

Mary is a city of Turkmenistan, capital of the Mary Province. Former names include Merv, Meru and Margiana. In 1999 its population was 123,000 ....
) was completed under General Michael Nicolaivitch Annenkoff in 1886. Originally the line began from Uzun-Ada on the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
, but the terminus was later shifted north to the harbour at Krasnovodsk. The Railway reached Samarkand
Samarkand

Samarkand , is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province.The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study....
 via Bukhara
Bukhara

Bukhara , also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian ?uxarak , is the Capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 237,900 ....
 in 1888, where it halted for ten years until extended to Tashkent
Tashkent

Tashkent is the Capital of Uzbekistan and also of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was 2.18 million....
 and Andijan
Andijan

Andijan is the fourth-largest city in Uzbekistan, and the capital of the Andijan Province. It is located in the east of the country, at , in the Fergana Valley, near the border with Kyrgyzstan on the Andijan-Say River....
 in 1898. The permanent bridge over the Oxus (Amu-Darya) was not completed until 1901, and until then trains ran over a rickety wooden construction that was often damaged by floods. As early as 1905, there was a train ferry
Train ferry

A train ferry is a ship designed to carry Rail transport vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with rail tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves....
 across the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the List of lakes by area or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers ....
 from Krasnovodsk to Baku
Baku

Baku , sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bak?, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan....
 in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan , is the largest and most populous country in the South Caucasus, located partially in Eastern Europe and partially in Western Asia....
. The Tashkent Railway connecting the Transcaspian Military Railway with the network of other Russian and European railways was completed in 1906.

Route

The railway starts at the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea at Turkmenbashi (Krasnovodsk) and heads southeast, along the edge of the Karakum Desert
Karakum Desert

The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara Gum is a desert in Central Asia. It occupies about 70 percent, or 350,000 km?, of the area of Turkmenistan....
. For a while it runs parallel to the Qaraqum Canal
Qaraqum Canal

The Qaraqum Canal in Turkmenistan is the largest irrigation and water supply canal in the world. Started in 1954, and completed in 1988, it is navigable over much of its 1,375 km length, and carries 13 km? of water annually from the Amu-Darya River across the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan....
. It passes through Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) and continues southeast, hugging the foothills of the Kopet Dagh mountains, and passing through Tejen
Tejen

Tejen is an oasis city in the Karakum Desert, in Ahal Province of Turkmenistan. It is located at latitude 37.3786 North; longitude 60.4961 East at an altitude of 161 meters....
. At Tejen a modern railway link branches off, heading to the Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
ian border at Sarakhs
Sarakhs

Sarakhs is both a city and also a 8407 km? district of Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. Sarakhs town was once a stopping point along the Silk Road, and in its 11th century heyday had many libraries and a famous school of architects....
, and thence to Mashhad
Mashhad

Mashhad is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country city in Iran and one of the Holiest sites in Islam in the Shia world....
 in Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
. From Tejen the Trans-Caspian heads northeast, through Mary
Mary, Turkmenistan

Mary is a city of Turkmenistan, capital of the Mary Province. Former names include Merv, Meru and Margiana. In 1999 its population was 123,000 ....
 (Merv), where a branch line built in the 1890s leads to the Afghan border at Kushka
Kushka

Kushka may refer to:*Serhetabat, Turkmenistan*Kushka, Balkh, Afghanistan...
, and the main line carries on to Turkmenabat (Chardjui). From there a branch built in the Soviet period connects northwestward to Urganch and on to Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a large Eurasian country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the List of countries by area as well as the world's largest landlocked country, it has a territory of 2,727,300 km? ....
 and Russia.

It continues through Bukhara
Bukhara

Bukhara , also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian ?uxarak , is the Capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 237,900 ....
 (where a branch line built in 1910 leads to Termez
Termez

Termez is a city in southern Uzbekistan near the border with Afghanistan. The city was named by Greeks who came with Alexander the Great. Termez means in Greek "hot" or "hot place" ....
 and Dushanbe
Dushanbe

Dushanbe , population 679,400 people , is the Capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik language, and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday marketplace....
) and then carries on to Samarkand
Samarkand

Samarkand , is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province.The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study....
. At Sirdaryo, where it crosses the Syr Darya
Syr Darya

Syr Darya is a river in Central Asia, sometimes known as the Jaxartes or Yaxartes from its Ancient Greek name . The Greek name is derived from Old Persian, Yakhsha Arta , a reference to the color of the river's water....
 river, a branch runs east into the fertile Fergana Valley
Fergana Valley

The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Shakhimardan khanate Pamirs Central Asia....
. From there the railway continues to Tashkent
Tashkent

Tashkent is the Capital of Uzbekistan and also of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was 2.18 million....
. There another northwest bound line
Trans-Aral Railway

The Russian gauge Trans-Aral Railway was built in 1906 connecting Orenburg and Tashkent. For the first part of the 20th century it was the only railway-connection between European Russia and Central Asia....
 runs to Kazakhstan, which branches at Arys
Arys, Kazakhstan

Arys , is a town in South Kazakhstan Province of Kazakhstan. The population of the city was reported in 2007 as 37.6 thousand; together with the district administratively subordinated to the city's government, it was 64.7 thousand....
 forming the Turkestan-Siberia Railway
Turkestan-Siberia Railway

The Russian gauge Turkestan?Siberian Railway connects Central Asia with Siberia. It starts north of Tashkent in Uzbekistan at Arys, Kazakhstan, where it branches off from the Trans-Caspian Railway....
 to Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk is Russia's third-largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast....
.