Leningrad-Baikal Rapid Train Transit Line

History
The construction of the Leningrad-Baikal railway line started in 1988 and by 1990 the Leningrad-Moscow section, the Moscow-Sverdlovsk(Yekaterinburg) section and the Sverdlovsk(Yekaterinburg)-Irkutsk section was completed. The construction was halted in 1991 when the Soviet Union finally collapsed and the economic and political turmoil begun in Russia. When the economy stabilized in the early 2000s constuction continued and the complete railway line from St. Petersburg(formerly Leningrad) to Baikal was completed. Commercial operations begun in 2004 and was completly up and running in 2006.

OAO Rossiyskie Zheleznye Dorogi (RZhD)
The OAO Rossiyskie Zheleznye Dorogi (RZhD) (russian:Российские железные дороги (РЖД)) is the public stock company currently operating the line. The company is owned to 71% by the Russian government. It operated 6 trains on the railway line.

Military use
The Russian military has 17 trains equipped with MRICBMS's (Mobile Railway based Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Silo). If need the Russian army will also transport troops along the railway.

Future
Extensions of the rapid transit system is also planned on 4 lines; Moscow-Kiev-Istanbul, St. Petersburg-Tallinn-Minsk, Baikal-Vladivostok-Beijing and Baikal-Xianxien-Shanghai. Preliminary agreements with the Chineese government has already been signed.

Technnical details

 * Length: 9,259 km
 * Gauge 1,520 mm
 * the railway carries about 200,000 containers per year to Europe.