The
Saint Petersburg – Warsaw Railway, Russian "Санкт-Петербурго-Варшавская железная дорога" (transcription: Sankt-Peterburgo–Varshavskaya zheleznaya doroga) is a 1333 km (828.3 mi) long railway, built in the 19th century by the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
to connect Russia with Central Europe. At the time the entire railway was within Russia, as Warsaw was under a
Russian partition of PolandThe Russian partition was the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that were acquired by the Russian Empire in the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland.-Terminology:...
. Due to territorial changes, the line now lies within five countries and crosses the eastern border of the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
three times. Therefore no passenger trains follow the entire route. Travel by passenger train between Saint Petersburg and Warsaw today (2010) passes
BrestBrest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
instead.
Construction
In February 1851 the Tsarist Government of Russia made a decision to build the St. Petersburg – Warsaw railway line with a length of approximately 1,250 kilometres. It was built to
Russian gaugeIn railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
. Construction was completed in 1862.
The first section of the railway was completed in 1853 between
Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and
GatchinaGatchina is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov...
, with daily scheduled train service started on October 31, 1853. On July 19, 1858, the first train arrived in
PskovPskov is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: -Early history:...
.
In May 1858, construction started near Vilnius on the first section of 19 kilometers. On 1 May 1859 the ground works started along the entire route
DaugavpilsDaugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...
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VilniusVilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
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LentvarisLentvaris is a city in eastern Lithuania, 9 km east form Trakai, an important center of transportation, because many roads and railroads cross here.Lake Lentvaris is located near the city.- History :...
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KaunasKaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
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KybartaiKybartai is a city in the Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis and is on the border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia....
. The end of summer of 1860 marked the end of the construction of the Ostrov-Daugavpils–Vilnius railway. The first train from Daugavpils arrived in Vilnius on 16 September 1860. In 1861, this branch was completed to the Prussian border, and between Verzhbolovo Station in
KybartaiKybartai is a city in the Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis and is on the border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia....
and Eydtkuhnen in Prussia (now
ChernyshevskoyeChernyshevskoye is a settlement in Nesterovsky District in the eastern part of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, on the border with Lithuania.Between Chernyshevskoye and Lithuanian Kybartai is an important 24-hour border crossing point on the A229 principal road and the railway route connecting...
in Russian
Kaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
) the first junction between Russian gauge and standard gauge railwas systems was built, with rails in both gauges between the border stations.
The construction of the section from
LentvarisLentvaris is a city in eastern Lithuania, 9 km east form Trakai, an important center of transportation, because many roads and railroads cross here.Lake Lentvaris is located near the city.- History :...
to
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
was completed on December 15, 1862.
The first locomotives for the St. Petersburg – Warsaw railway were bought in England, France, and Belgium. They consisted of two cylinders. Their series was “G” and type – 0-3-0. They were produced in Manchester in 1857, in Paris in 1860, and in Belgium in 1862. The weight of such a locomotive was 30–32 tons.
The portion between Vilnius and Warsaw was rebuilt in the
standard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
in the 1920s when that area belonged to Poland. The railway was partly destroyed during both world wars.