Chertkovo is an urban-type settlement located in the north of the Rostov Region in the Don Steppes zone. Its main feature is that different parts of the village were on different sides of the Russian-Ukrainian border. The dividing line is the North Caucasus Railway, or rather, the Peoples' Friendship Street, running along it. The same factor predetermined the fate of Chertkovo railway station.
Geography Chertkovo and Chertkovo district of the Rostov region
Chertkovo is located on the western border of the Rostov region in its northern part. Natural conditions correspond to the steppe zone with elements of forest-steppe.
In general, the climate is temperate continental. The average annual temperature is +7.9 degrees, and the amount of precipitation for the year is 546 mm. Due to global warming, the summer has become hotter and longer, and moreover, drier. Winters are moderately frosty, with winds and blizzards.
The terrain is flat but wavy. Nearby is the Don Range. Steppe landscapes and farmland prevail.
Chertkovsky district belongs to the basin of the river. Belaya Kalitva (a tributary of the Seversky Donets and Don basin), however, the river bed is located at a distance of 8 km from Chertkovo station.
Industry in the region is poorly developed, and industrial facilities have become original monuments of history. Often they are represented by ruins concentrated along the railway line.
The population of Chertkovo is 10-11 thousand people and changes little over time.
History of Chertkovo village and Chertkovo station
The time of the appearance of the village is still unknown. The first mention of it is associated with the construction of the railway, which at that time was called Voronezh-Rostov. On the part of present-day Ukraine, the Kharkov province was located, and on the part of Russia, the region of the Don Army. The main building of the station was built back then. Chertkovo station appeared in 1869. The name was given to her by the name of Mikhail Ivanovich Chertkov - the chieftain of the Don army, who was the initiator of the construction of the railway in this area.
Chertkovo station is on the map of 1876, and is also listed in the list of settlements of the Don Army for 1873.
In 1905 Chertkovo became one of the regional centers of revolutionary militia. A committee was formed here to guide the revolutionary activities of workers and employees of the railway and Chertkovo station.
After 1929, the village was listed as a worker. In 1993, he was given the status of a rural settlement.
Features of the railway station
Chertkovo Station is located at: 346000, Rostov Region, Chertkovo District, Chertkovo Village, ul. Railway station, d. 1. You can get to it by bus number 1. The station has parking (including special places for the disabled) and a left-luggage office. There is a reference, ticket exchange, police department, cafes, ATMs. The station itself is represented by a one-story building of the station. At some distance from it is a control room.
The station was built over 100 years ago. The control room is an individual architectural solution and is a relatively young building. In the immediate vicinity of the station there is a radio communication tower.
Station dividing line
Chertkovo railway station (Rostov Region) is located on the dividing line of the Russian-Ukrainian border, on the Russian (that is, from the north-east) side of the railway. Immediately after the railways, a relatively high blue fence was established separating Russia and Ukraine. Transition to the territory of Ukraine is possible via a railway bridge, the last staircase descent of which ends already behind the dividing fence. It is mainly intended for local residents.
Features of station operation in the past and present
Chertkovo is located on the border of the North Caucasus and Southeast Railways. Until recently, long-distance passenger trains followed in transit and at high speed. Many did a short stop at the station. It is also the final destination for following the Rostov-Chertkovo electric train. Schedule Chertkovo station now comes down to the schedule of movement of the train. The electric train runs daily, leaving from Rostov-on-Don at 15:50 and arriving at the station at 22:04. Travel time from Rostov to Chertkovo is 6 hours 14 minutes.
All freight trains going in this direction also passed here.
After the construction of the bypass section of the railway connecting the settlements of Zhuravka (Voronezh region) and Millerovo (Rostov region) was completed, the movement of passenger trains through Chertkovo station was stopped. After December 11, 2017, not a single passenger and freight train goes through it.
Features of life on both sides of the station
Chertkovo railway station practically did not serve trains running through the territory of Ukraine. Only Russian trains passed through it. Although the Ukrainian part of the village is officially listed as a separate settlement (the village of Melovoye), only the railway and the recently built border fence separate them geographically.
It turns out an extraordinary contrast between the level of transport support of the Russian and Ukrainian parts. While the residents of the Russian part could easily get to almost any large city of the Russian Federation, just by buying a ticket for one of the trains passing through the station, the residents of the Ukrainian do not have full transport links with the rest of Ukraine. Rare buses that take several hours to shake on bumpy roads to get to the regional center of the Lugansk region - Severodonetsk, and personal cars (most of them are still Soviet cars) - that’s the entire transport arsenal of local residents.
However, now the residents of the Russian Chertkovo can feel the worsening situation with passenger transportation (due to the cessation of train traffic through the station).
In addition to differences in transportation, there are other contrasts between the two railway lines separated by rail, often reflecting the nature of the way of life in Russia and Ukraine.
So, amateur photographers who have been there have noted various signs of desolation and neglect in Melovoy. For example, such as broken roads, overgrown monuments to victims of the Second World War, the lack of road markings, a very rural view of the streets and the village as a whole.
While Chertkovo, on the contrary, looks neat and well-groomed, with a lot of road signs, high-quality road markings, tile on the sidewalks, neat flower beds, lawns and so on.
In numerous photographs, you can also notice that in the Ukrainian territory (Melovoye) old Soviet-made cars are common, while in the Russian (Chertkovo) - modern western models (foreign cars).
The future fate of the station
It is almost impossible to answer the question of what will happen to Chertkovo station now. The specialists who worked there are moving to Millerovo and other stations of the current and new railway. Obviously, servicing local electric trains alone will lower its status from federal to local level.
The termination of the transit traffic of trains will make Chertkovo station a dead end. The entire section of the railway from Zhuravka to Chertkovo will become non-functioning and for the most part will become the property of Ukraine. This will be due to the fact that it passes already beyond the line of the Russian-Ukrainian border. To the south of Chertkovo there are also separate local railway approaches to the territory of a neighboring state, which, in the event of further aggravation of relations between countries, can lead to a complete stop of the station.