Circum-Baikal Railway

As Baikal Railway Baikal circular track (Russian Кругобайкальская железная дорога ) is the most south-western shore of Lake Baikal along leading and 89 km long, single-track railway line today Slyudiyanka -Baikal in Russia called.

History

The Baikal Railway was built in the years 1902 to 1904 as part of the Trans -Siberian Railway. The first train ran on 30 September 1904. It replaced after completion of the ferry service that connected the Central Siberian Railway to the eastern shore of Lake Baikal. Therefore, and due to the high cost it is also referred to as the " gold buckle of the Russian steel belt".

Numerous tunnels through rocks and bridges over rivers and streams had to be built, so the cost was five times the cost of other routes of the Trans -Siberian Railway. One of the biggest attractions today include 39 tunnels with a total length of 7 km.

Current usage

This railway line is only a branch line since the construction of the Irkutsk Angara Reservoir in 1951 and decommissioning as part of the Trans-Siberian Railway with their new building between Irkutsk and Baikal. Today daily runs a single local train which supplies the resting places with the goods of daily needs. At weekends and on selected days runs a tourist train with photo stops at selected points. Since the track has no more importance, the maximum speed to 20 km / h has been fixed now.

Currently, efforts are to run, take the track in the World Heritage List.