Railway troops - a specialized branch of the army, which is a structural part of the Ground Forces and intended for the construction, rehabilitation and cover of railway lines in real combat situations. In any war, the importance of this type of troops is difficult to overestimate. After all, railways are the blood vessels of war. With the help of railway transport, troops are redeployed, reserves, weapons and military equipment, ammunition and food are brought to the front line. The success of large military campaigns and full-scale wars largely depends on the functioning of this type of transport .
The railway troops of the Russian Federation with their history are inextricably linked with the history of the state itself. The contribution of servicemen of this kind of troops to the strengthening of defense power and the development of railway infrastructure in Russia is truly enormous. Railway troops took part in all armed conflicts and large wars that fell to the lot of the country.
The most important role military railroad played during the Second World War. Almost from the first day of the war, the Railway Troops carried out tasks to protect railway lines from German air raids and to ensure their smooth operation. And after the start of the global counterattack of our troops, they immediately began to restore the destroyed infrastructure.
In total, during the war period, the railway troops rebuilt and built about 120 thousand kilometers of main, peripheral and station tracks, more than 15 thousand structures, which made it possible to ensure unprecedented volumes of military transport in the history of wars, which amounted to about 20 million cars . Sappers of this kind of troops during the same period neutralized more than 2 million mines and unexploded aircraft bombs. The glorious deeds of military railroad workers significantly brought closer the hour of the Great Victory.
Today, the railway troops of the Russian Federation are engaged in technical cover, restoration, clearance, barrage of sections and objects of railway infrastructure, and also solve a number of other equally important tasks. The mission of the railway soldiers is especially important in the aspect of the activation of terrorism on the territory of Russia, including in the railway transport.
In modern conditions, this type of troops performs not only military-tactical tasks, but also civilian missions of extraordinary importance for the national economy. In this military railroad helps the most modern special-purpose equipment. For example, lifting-straightening and straightening-straightening machines, flat lifting frame-screw supports and many other specialized mechanisms.
The technical capabilities, mobility and autonomy of the railway units were vividly demonstrated during the humanitarian mission in the Abkhaz Republic. Ground-based technical intelligence revealed the catastrophic condition of one of the sections of the railway, which is of fundamental importance for the economy of Abkhazia. In record time, military railroad workers restored communications at the fifty-kilometer section of Vesyoloye - Ochamchira. Timely repair of tracks not only revived the economy of the young independent republic, but also ensured the safe movement of military echelons during the operation to force Georgia to sign a peace treaty.