International Railroad Discussion > Trans-Siberian Railway

How freight trains and passenger trains run on the Trans-Siberian mainline every day?

Posted from iPhone

Alexmarissa Wrote:
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> How freight trains and passenger trains run on the
> Trans-Siberian mainline every day?
>
> Posted from iPhone

On the rails.

Which part? There are (at least) two Transib routes from Moscow to Omsk, and a sub-line below that. Everything comes together in Novosibirsk. I'd guess there are 100 or more trains a day there. But there are by pass lines. Then you have the Southern Trans-Sib. Again, they come together at Tajshet, where the BAM begins. Bet there is at least 100 trains a day there too. Many trains originate and terminate at intermediate points and there are numerous branches. As far as I know RZD still has freight trains about one kilometer long (about 60-80 of their car types). There are still a number of passenger trains 10-20 cars. The entire line is now electrified. There is a website for Russian railways called '5 feet'. I get few posts from it now and then but not regularly. but hope it is still active. There is little competition from trucks, at least in Siberia. And Russia, despite its problematic politics, (damn it there I go again) still believes, and SUPPORTS; it's railways. My humble guess is that anywhere in the Siberian portion of the Trans-Sib you would see 60-100 trains per day. I always wanted to go to Russia and ride their rails, as well as China, but family issues prevented that. Now my age, and our weird relationship with that country leads me to think it will never happen. But i can look at Google earth. And you will not go far along the Tran-Sib without finding a train.

Thanks for the great info.!

Posted from iPhone

It was not that long agoo that the line was finally finished to the coast too.

I will have to look on '5 feet' to see if the Beilhack HB1200 Snow clearer that they
purchased in 2012 runs the transiberian route from Moscow to Vladivistok.

An estimate of 60-100 trains a day over most of the Trans-Siberian sound accurate and I wouldn't be surprised if it was higher than that. I've ridden both the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Manchuria routes, freight traffic on the Manchurian line was much heavier than the Mongolian route. 
Here are my pictures from those trips
Trans_Mongolian: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjN31ncT
Mongolia-China: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjMVKHZi
Trans-Manchurian: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk3BXW2q

Right now Russia is a good travel bargin, with the Ruble trading where it is, it makes hotels and hostels more affordable as well as the train fares. I was in Russia back in June and didn't have any problems as an American. Even getting a Russian visa is easy if you pay a little extra to have a an agency do it for you. I use Travel All Russia, https://www.travelallrussia.com, and find the process much easier than doing it yourself, getting a multi-entry passport is the best way to go. 

Does anyone speak Engilsh?

jfrank39 Wrote:
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> Does anyone speak Engilsh?

I do.

jfrank39 Wrote:
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> Does anyone speak Engilsh?
Many people do espescially the younger generations. Learing the Russian alphabet is a good idea, it's not that hard and makes getting around a lot easier, it really comes in handy when riding the Metro. 
 

jfrank39 Wrote:
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> Does anyone speak Engilsh?

Yes, quite a few. I went from Moscow to Vladivostok in April of last year (actually, I started in Frankfurt and travelled via Warsaw and Kiev) and had no issues whatsoever, despite my Russian skills being minimal (I probably know about 20 words). I can, however, decipher Cyrillic pretty proficiently, having travelled extensively through countries that use it. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/17 01:18 by pennengineer.

Wow, GettingShort, those Mongolian diesels, their paint scheme looks like a rip off the Amtrak Phase III Dash-8s. I took one look at them and though, why is there a Pepsi Can in Mongolia? Also, yes people speak English, not always well, but well enough to make do. 
Cheers,
Nick