The Small Ring of the Moscow Railway is a ring line connecting all 10 radial branches of the Moscow railways. Until recently, it was used only for freight transport. Includes 12 stations for freight trains.
General information
The founding date of this infrastructure is July 19, 1908. The mileage count for the Moscow Railway starts from the intersection of the tracks with the Nikolaev railway.
The ring is 54 km long and the total length of this railway system is 145 km. This difference is associated with a large number of branches from the main trunk.
The Moscow Small Ring is a convenient way to exchange between the main railway lines diverging radially from the center of the capital in all major directions.
Although the main task of the Ministry of Railways is the transportation of goods, recently the ring has been used for passenger traffic. This was facilitated by the modernization of the lines carried out in 2012-2016. The opening of passenger traffic was in 2016.
History of MMK
The decision to create a railway was made in 1897 under the reign of Emperor Nicholas II. Work on the project was carried out from 1898 to 1902. Of the 13 different options, the one that involved the creation of 4 tracks (2 passenger and 2 freight) was adopted. Construction work began in 1902. They lasted until 1908. Of the four paths, two were laid. This was due to financial difficulties.
The distance from the railway to the center of the capital turned out to be different in different sections. So, in the north-west direction the railway is 12 km from the center, and in the south - only five. In 1917, the border of the city roughly coincided with the railway. by the line of the Moscow ring.
Construction of a small Moscow ring
At the Moscow Small Ring, 14 stations and 2 stops were built. Along the railway, technical buildings were built. At first, passenger trains were also allowed along the ring, but later only freight trains began to walk. During the period of active electrification of the railways, the Moscow Ring remained not electrified, due to technical problems. Only locomotives walked on it. However, the situation is currently changing.
The state of the Moscow ring until the last reconstruction
In 2012, the ring consisted of two railway tracks intended for freight traffic. The length of the ring is 178 km. The total number of technical structures was 110, of which 6 were bridges. There is also 1 tunnel with a length of 900 m (under the area of Gagarin). The number of freight stations is 12. They are all located on the outside of the ring. Branches from the Small Ring served to ensure the flow of goods during the work of 159 enterprises. By 2013, their number decreased to 49.
60–70 freight trains ran along the Small Ring railway per day. Two-thirds of the volume of traffic was products of the construction complex. Transit freight flows were terminated by decision of the Russian Railways and transferred to the Big Ring (BMO). Until 2016, only sightseeing trains in retro style based on locomotive traction ran from passenger trains.
Traffic on the small ring was temporarily open, starting in the fall of 2010, which was caused by the construction of the flyover. The full-fledged movement resumed only in February 2013.
Modern reconstruction of the Moscow small ring
The reason for the reconstruction of the Small Moscow Ring was economic reasons. In conditions of a decrease in freight traffic, operating such a cumbersome structure proved to be less cost-effective. Therefore, it was decided from 2012 to 2016. adapt railways for passenger traffic. For these purposes, more than 210 billion rubles have been allocated.
It is not supposed to completely cancel freight flows. Initially, they planned to carry them out at night, however, later this option was considered ineffective. Therefore, the project has been amended to include the construction of another (third) railway line, but only on a 37 km long section.
According to the reconstruction project, 31 stopping points will be created at MKZD. According to Mikhail Gromov, Director General of MKZhD OJSC, all of them will be designed in the original style and will serve as transport hubs.
In the process of reconstruction, work was done to replace bridges and other technical facilities, railways and power transmission towers were reconstructed . All this led to temporary disturbances in the movement of trains along the ring.
On May 3, 2014, the work of the stations: Lefortovo, Cherkizovo, Likhobory, Presnya, Novoproletarskaya was stopped. At the remaining freight stations, only a partial amount of work will remain.
Thus, the small ring of the Moscow Railway is a developing and changing infrastructure that is adapted (albeit slowly) to the needs of the current time. With the gradual electrification of railways and the replacement of trains, the small ring is losing its traditional appearance, which it had until recently.