Northern Railway (Russia)

The Severnaya Railway (Северная железная дорога; "Northern Railway") is a railway network linking Moscow with Arkhangelsk on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. It runs through Arkhangelsk, Komi, Vologda, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, and Vladimir regions of the Russian Federation.

The Yaroslavl Railway, owned by Savva Mamontov, was one of the first railways in Russia. The Alexandrov–Yaroslavl–Vologda line was opened in 1872. There are several monuments to Savva Mamontov along the road. The original Moscow–Yaroslavl Mainline is no longer operated from Yaroslavl; it was transferred to the Moscow Railway in 1959.

In 1894, the construction of the railway connecting Vologda with Arkhangelsk started. The decision was taken to construct the line along the shortest route, which at the time ran through a sparsely populated area, and not along one of the existing trading routes, via Kargopol or Verkhovazhye. The construction was completed in 1897.

The Cherepovets–Vologda–Vyatka line has been in operation since 1906. It is a link joining the Northern Railway to the Perm Railway further to the east. They form the original, or northern, route of the great Trans-Siberian Railway. A long railway to the mining town of Vorkuta, known as the Pechora Mainline, was constructed by Gulag labor between 1937 and 1941. Its headquarters were in Kotlas.

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