1520. Mine under Russian Railways
As a prologue or prelude.
A mine under the rails is something eternal. And it symbolizes military operations behind enemy lines, when partisans or saboteurs mine railway tracks and derail trains.
Today is a peaceful time, but ...
But the trains began to fly, although no explosions were heard. And I would like to talk about what is happening today in the system of Russian railways. For these two steel parallel lines of ours are one of the symbols of orderliness and stability.
Indeed, what is a railway in our understanding? From trains leaving and arriving on time, to polite and pretty conductors and tea in cup holders.
Yes, to some people the structure of Russian Railways may seem to be something so unshakable that it is impossible to destroy it. And if necessary, our railways will become a real help in delivering, for example, military cargo to wherever it is needed.
Since their inception in the world, railways have become the backbone of any state and its strategic resource. Until recently, it was the railways that were the cheapest to transport goods and move people in Russia.
The key word here is "was". And in this cycle I will try to highlight in detail everything that happens behind the beautiful signboard of Russian Railways, where the railway stations end and the stations and stretches begin.
For this, for quite a long time, I had to meet with various representatives of the railways. And here many surprises awaited me, which I will share in the process. Gradually, because when they opened another jar of secrets to me, it became commonplace to fall into a stupor with the words "But damn it, Holmes, HOW ???".
In general, of course, Russian Railways is still a world. I don't even know what to compare with in terms of the degree of closeness. It is not only that the work is strange, but also the graphics. But we can state the fact that I coped with the task and talked (and I will still) with representatives of all railway professions, from the very bottom. The exceptions were station chiefs and carriages. The first are not supposed to communicate according to their position, the second is almost impossible to catch sober. The costs of the profession, so to speak ... Well, or I just didn't succeed.
The world of railways is very specific and is fraught with many surprises.
The theater, as you know, begins with a coat rack. And the railway? From the station?
But no. A train station is not a railway. And the people who work at the station are not railway workers. Alas. Today it is a kind of commercial entity that provides you with train boarding services. Just like the conductor who meets you at the carriage and spends with you all the time of your trip in the carriage, this is not a railway either.
Someone will not stand it now and will decide that I have completely lost my mind, and it's time to call a doctor with a syringe filled with an unclear substance. No, alas, it is.
And where does the railway start?
Go to the edge of the platform and look down. Where the edge of the sleeper begins, among the scattered cigarette butts and stains of oil and diesel fuel (or worse), there begins what is today the Railroad. The Station begins there.
And there they begin stories, which, I hope, will make many look differently at this human man who knows neither weekends nor holidays. Living by his own very strange laws.
By the way, about the strangeness of the laws. I wanted to start with one very instructive incident. It happened not so long ago in Anapa, more precisely, in Vityazevo. And ended in tragedy. The three local degenerates on the Land Cruiser were in a hurry. And therefore, as it was seen on the recordings of the DVRs of other cars, ignoring the queue in front of the traffic light, prohibiting signals, having entered the oncoming lane, they decided to "slip through".
It didn't work out. Naturally, the train dragged the remains of the car for almost half a kilometer and it was stupid to talk about survivors. The backseat passenger survived, lucky. Will remain crippled, but alive. The owner of the car and his friend entered the line for the Darwin Prize. Deservedly and absolutely without regret, in such a situation it is necessary to regret only the driver and his assistant, who definitely get psychological trauma in such a situation.
The media usually write in such cases that "the driver applied emergency braking, but ...".
Alas. Not a single driver in his right mind will urgently brake in this case. And I highly recommend everyone reading this to remember this: if you decide to "slip through", neither the driver of the freight train, nor the passenger will urgently slow down. I was very much asked to do this by those who shared information.
There are several reasons here. The first is the passengers. In the car there can be from one to five people who want to go to the next world. There are tens of times more people in the carriages of the train who can be injured and beaten during emergency braking. Responsibility for the life and health of passengers lies with the driver. They (the idiots) and only themselves are responsible for the idiots at the move.
The second reason for emergency braking is if the train was traveling fast and braking well, sliders form on the wheels.
This is physics, as a result of which the entire squad can play a repair.
And with freight trains it is even more interesting. The driver is responsible for the cargo that can move, break down, the cars can go off the rails altogether because of this ...
So those who like to "slip through", always hurrying to the next world, should remember that there will be no emergency braking, your metal coffin will be dragged for half a kilometer (or even more), as in Vityazevo, under the vigorous crunch of metal and bones.
And to be honest, emergency braking will not help. A train is a train, you can't just stop it. Physics, you know. That is why, within the Russian Railways system itself, there is such an agreement between the drivers and their leaders: the drivers do not tear the brakes and nerves, the authorities do not pursue them for another crumpled tin can at the next crossing. Well, yes, psychological support for the driver is guaranteed.
So really, we follow the rules at level crossings, we respect and appreciate the drivers, we do not spoil the property of Russian Railways and the nerves of passengers. And everything will be beautiful.
But that was just a saying. So to speak, for the introduction. Just as an example of the fact that in words one thing, but in deeds another. The main story begins only now.
Perhaps for some (as well as for me including) everything said further will become some kind of nonsense, but alas, this is so.
Railways, the symbol of which was the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Railways, were really considered something like that, unshakable and eternal. The stations are standing still, the trains arrive on time (almost) and leave the same way. And from Kaliningrad you can get to Vladivostok. Slower than by plane, but more interesting and cheaper.
Yes, that's how it was.
Now there is no Ministry of Railways, there is JSC Russian Railways, 49% of which is owned by the state. And the manager is Oleg Belozerov, who, as you understand, is not a railroad worker.
But it normal. The last cosmonaut (Sergei Krikalev) was recently removed from Roskosmos from the senior management staff; there are no teachers or professors in the Ministry of Education and Science. In general, this is a normal trend for Russia.
We can talk a lot about the indicators that Russian Railways is demonstrating under Belozerov, but now we will not operate with figures. Somewhat later. We must pay tribute to him, he did a lot of interesting things to improve the work of the railway, including in the fight against corruption, which bloomed in full bloom in the structure.
We will talk about the fact that, unfortunately, the railway is subject to the most terrible influence in Russian reality. The name for this nightmare is optimization. And it is optimization that better than any mines can derail not only the composition - the entire structure of Russian railways.
In our time, the railway is still the same as a hundred years ago, it is the main way of transferring troops and equipment to the desired direction. By the way, the recent exercises in Crimea showed many problems in the structure of Russian Railways, associated with the passage of additional trains with equipment and personnel.
Alas, we still have no other means of communication. Yes, you can carry people and, for example, wheeled artillery pieces. Easy. But what is on the tracks is no longer there. Tanks from Nizhny Tagil will not go on their own to the western borders. More precisely, they will go, but most likely they will not. The resource will not start up. Trailers, of course, are an option, but alas, not one that can solve the problem.
Well, our country is too long, you know. So - just rely on two parallel lines.
And this cycle is planned about these two lines.
About how people of the railway generally work today, in modern conditions. How pleasant the optimization was and why suddenly the trains began to derail or get into accidents more and more often. What are the main problems of Russian Railways today (although here we can definitely say that the personnel) and how they are trying to solve them.
Why do trains still leave and arrive on time, and who is to blame that the system works in spite of everything, including common sense.
The main examples and conclusions will be presented by employees of the Moscow, South-Eastern and North-Caucasian Railways, but at the moment contact has been established with representatives of the Trans-Baikal and Northern Railways.
Actually, all these people who work on very strange schedules (more on this separately, because schedules are the main reason for many outrages), not that miners, but yes, they walk through a minefield during working hours. And today the railway (like many other things in the country) is a kind of field for experiments both on people and on the entire structure as a whole.
You know how to cut a land mine. Will it explode or not? And, of course, the main reason for the experiments is Her Majesty's Profit, which goes into the pockets of shareholders. And the employees are so, the fifth question, nothing more.
And all would be fine, we have ropes of workers everywhere, and the larger the company, the harder it happens. Gazprom, Rosneft, Sberbank, Lukoil and so on and on to infinity. Different corporate colors, different methods. The essence is the same.
But here's the problem: oil and gas companies, banks - all of them are not the structures on which national security is based. Considering the state of our cargo shipping (none at all), how “cheap” air transportation of our private airlines has become, all that can be counted on in the event of a military situation is road and rail transport.
And if we speak seriously, then only to the railway, because this state does not have its own road carriers. They stayed in the USSR. So if we can count on something, then yes, only on Russian Railways.
And that's what is happening inside one of the largest entities remaining under the control of the state, and will be discussed.
I think it will be interesting, at least everyone will be able to appreciate the processes that take place behind the scenes of gray-red color. Or in a track of 1520 mm.
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