Russian rail atlas

[deltic]

Can anyone recommend a modern comprehensive rail atlas for Russia

 

[gazthomas]

While online only, I find OpenRailwayMap to be very useful

 

[Wandering Pom]

I have the Atlas Zheleznye Dorogi (if I've got the transliteration right), published by Omskaya Kartograficheskaya Fabrika in 2002. It's entirely in Russian; it covers the whole of Russia and the other former Soviet states at scales between 1:1,000,000 and 1:3,000,000. with insets for national capitals and other major cities. I don't know whether any later editions were published, and I'd expect the current sanctions regime would prevent it from being sourced from Russia, but if you can get hold of a second-hand copy it's very helpful.

 

[deltic]

While online only, I find OpenRailwayMap to be very useful

Thanks, wasnt aware of this website - looks helpful.

 

[deltic]

I have the Atlas Zheleznye Dorogi (if I've got the transliteration right), published by Omskaya Kartograficheskaya Fabrika in 2002. It's entirely in Russian; it covers the whole of Russia and the other former Soviet states at scales between 1:1,000,000 and 1:3,000,000. with insets for national capitals and other major cities. I don't know whether any later editions were published, and I'd expect the current sanctions regime would prevent it from being sourced from Russia, but if you can get hold of a second-hand copy it's very helpful.

Thanks - looks promising

 

[Mcr Warrior]

'Zheleznye dorogi' looks about right.

Oxfam's online shop currently seem to have a copy.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/railway-atlas-of-russia-and-neighbouring-countries/product/HD_302193089

 

[deltic]

'Zheleznye dorogi' looks about right.

Oxfam's online shop currently seem to have a copy.

https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/railway-atlas-of-russia-and-neighbouring-countries/product/HD_302193089

View attachment 161719

Great - just brought it - much appreciated everyone's help

 

[Poolie]

I'm sure Ukraine will have an up to date map of Russian railways. I went on a school trip ln 1972, Train from St. Pancras to Tilbury. Baltika, Russian cruise ship to Copenhagen and Helsinki, then to Leningrad (as was). Getting off the Baltika a young lad came up and asked if we had any Levi jeans! He even said he had a Jimi Hendrix record, Things I just took for granted. Plane from Leningrad to Moscow and the dutiful visit to Lenin's tomb. Highlight though was the journey from Moscow to Brest-Litovsk, change of gauge, and then steam through Poland to East Berlin. Train stood for two hours while border guards carried out passport checks. One woman had a CCCP passport and was taken out of the compartment. I often wonder what happened to her. And so from the grim, grey, dark and menacing East, we crossed into West Berlin at 2 o' clock in the morning...........neon lights, colour, bars, shops, cafes, restaurants open and busy.
I always wanted to do the Trans Siberian, but I can't see that happening any time soon

 

[stadler]

Can anyone recommend a modern comprehensive rail atlas for Russia

I have been looking for an up to date Russian railway atlas book for a while. I have the same book mentioned in this thread but it is over twenty years old. I have been to Russia many times but failed to find anything more up to date. When i was in Russia very recently i went to one of the largest book shops in Moscow (which had a very wide selection of railway books) but even they had no railway atlas and could not find anything else online when they checked to see if they could order in any books. So i am not sure whether any updated version even exists.

However if you are happy with online versions than there is one very useful online resource:

Карты железных дорог - Экспресс плюс

В этом разделе вы можете посмотреть все карты и схемы железных дорог России и СНГ.

www.expresstk.ru

This has railway maps for all of Russia which seem to be up to date. They show almost every station except for in cities where they are close together and they only show the main ones. Other than Open Railway Map this is by far the best online resource i have found.

Just click on the region and it will open up a railway map which you can then save or download if you wish. It has maps for all 17 of the RZD regions. If you do not speak Russian than you can probably use Google Translate to work out which map is for which region or ask me and i can help.

Other than that one other thing that i do find helpful is downloading the network maps on the RZD suburban train sites. Each region in Russia has a website for their suburban trains (Elektrichkas) and these have full network maps showing all of the lines and stations within that area. Obviously as it is a network map they are not geographically correct and only shows passenger lines but they are the best online resources that i can find.

Just a couple of examples here:







They can be a bit hard to find but when you download all the maps for each region (there is probably at least 70 or 80 maps in total across the 20 or so RZD suburban subdivision websites) you can piece them together and see the current Russian passenger railway network with all the stops. They are helpful for travelling around and ticking off stations as you can see each and every station and where the passenger trains run. Not as good as a geographical railway atlas but if you are interested i can provide the links for other areas but some require a VPN to access.

Mike Ball produces his excellent European Railway Atlas detailed maps which show all railway lines and all stations. These cover almost all of Europe except for Russia unfortunately. He does maps showing all of Belarus and all of Ukraine so i really hope that he considers a Russia version at some point as that would be incredibly useful.

 

[nanstallon]

In present circumstances, are Western tourists still allowed to visit Russia? Carrying a detailed atlas of their railways may invite suspicion, and possibly end up as a hostage. Very sad; I travelled over the Trans Siberian in 1991, and then everywhere was welcoming.

 

[gazthomas]

In present circumstances, are Western tourists still allowed to visit Russia? Carrying a detailed atlas of their railways may invite suspicion, and possibly end up as a hostage. Very sad; I travelled over the Trans Siberian in 1991, and then everywhere was welcoming.

In a word no, unless you're Serbian

 

[deltic]

In present circumstances, are Western tourists still allowed to visit Russia? Carrying a detailed atlas of their railways may invite suspicion, and possibly end up as a hostage. Very sad; I travelled over the Trans Siberian in 1991, and then everywhere was welcoming.

Yes it's still possible to travel to Russia but it's not advised.

 

[etr221]

There are downloadable maps of Russia (in gif format) and other countries at https://websites.umich.edu/~yopopov/rrt/railroadmaps/

 

[ainsworth74]

In present circumstances, are Western tourists still allowed to visit Russia? Carrying a detailed atlas of their railways may invite suspicion, and possibly end up as a hostage. Very sad; I travelled over the Trans Siberian in 1991, and then everywhere was welcoming.

Yes you can but physically getting to Russia will be difficult and require flying to somewhere like Turkey first, it won't be possible to get regular travel insurance due to FCDO advising against all travel so specialist insurance would be required, the visa from the Russian embassy will probably take longer and be more heavily scrutinised, and, fundamentally, you risk being arrested in Russia on fake charges to be used as a bargaining chip. Plus having a Russian visa on your passport is likely to invite trouble at the border of other countries if trying to visit them thereafter.

So yes, you can go to Russia, but it would be both difficult and incredibly stupid for someone to do so!

 

[Mollington St]

Just to add to the discussion , i have just found in a box i am sorting two items of interest

1989 CCCP Rail Network Map - as stated on ther cover 1:8000 000

And also a copy of the Quail Map - 1995 issue Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Atlas

I will get them up on my site - Transport Past Times shortly