Railway Troops Day: 175 years guarding Russia's steel highways

On August 6, Russia celebrates Railway Troops Day—a professional holiday for service members and veterans of one of the oldest specialized branches of the country's Armed Forces. In 2026, the date will be celebrated with special significance: it will mark the 175th anniversary of the founding of the railway troops.

On August 6, 1851, Emperor Nicholas I formally approved the "Regulations on the Composition of the Administration of the St. Petersburg-Moscow Railway." This document established the world's first specialized military units for the protection and maintenance of railway tracks. The initial force consisted of 4340 servicemen, organized into 17 companies. Russia became a pioneer in the creation of a military railway department—nothing comparable existed in any country at the time.

For 175 years, railway troops carried out missions of strategic importance. During the Great Patriotic War, they ensured the uninterrupted movement of military echelons amid constant bombing and sabotage by the enemy, restoring bridges, tracks, and crossings literally under fire. During the war alone, military railway workers restored over 120 kilometers of track and thousands of bridges and crossings. In the post-war decades, the troops made a significant contribution to the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, one of the largest infrastructure projects of the Soviet era: through mountain tunnels, permafrost, and taiga forests, military railway workers laid the track alongside civilian construction workers.

Today, the Railway Troops of the Russian Federation are part of the Ministry of Defense as special rear support troops. They number approximately 25 service members. Formations and units are stationed throughout the country, from the western borders to the Far East. The troops' current missions include the construction, restoration, and technical support of railway facilities in the interests of national defense, as well as participation in large-scale national projects to develop transport infrastructure. Among their strategic priorities are the expansion and modernization of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway.

On August 6, military units hold ceremonial parades, awards, and certificates of honor are presented, and veterans receive congratulations from their commanders. The holiday is celebrated across the country, from Smolensk to Khabarovsk, where the main brigades of the railway troops are stationed.

Comments

[Vladimir Vladimirovich Vorontsov]

❝ Day of Russian Railway Troops ❞ —

— Happy Holidays, railway warriors and all those involved! ...

[AllX_VahhaB]

Quote: Vladimir Vladimirovich Vorontsov

— Happy Holidays, railway warriors and all those involved! ...

Happy holiday! Work, brothers!!!

[your vsr 66-67]

Happy Military Railway Troops Day!
You've done a great job on the eastern section of the Baikal-Amur Mainline! I saw it with my own eyes!
Health and prosperity to you and your families!

[Andrey Victorovich]

All those who served in the Railway Troops in the USSR always celebrate Railway Troops Day on October 5th.

[Svarog5570]

Glory to the railway warriors. The chevron in the picture isn't the one we had.

[papas-57]

And the emblem on the collar tabs looks like this. And "The text of your comment is too short and, in the opinion of the site administration, does not provide useful information." No one invited you, you're just sticking your comment everywhere.

[Svarog5570]

The emblem is the same as the one on the chevron. What did you mean by that? You are the mouthpiece of the site administration, and to leave a comment, you need to ask your permission.

[papas-57]

An emblem and a chevron are two different things. I simply showed what emblems were. But the site administration got on my nerves; they wanted two pages of comments. And my comment was short.

[Svarog5570]

My apologies. I've encountered this myself, the administration asking for a comment as long and as huge as a school essay.

[bya965]

Ivan Vladimirovich Kovalev entered the war as a colonel and the head of the Red Army's Directorate of Military Communications. He effectively organized the entire military logistics of the USSR's railways during the most difficult period—the evacuation of factories to the east in 1941 and the supply of supplies for the Battle of Moscow. Kovalev developed principles for the uninterrupted movement of troop trains. He ended the war as a lieutenant general and People's Commissar (Minister) of Railways of the USSR.

And then, Kaganovich. Kaganovich!
What a great man. I won't even mention the number of lives he saved with his work.

[AllX_VahhaB]

Quote: bya965

And then, Kaganovich. Kaganovich!

So the talent of a leader consists in setting the right people per Necessary places! And not shuffle the necessary ones among themselves...

[Reptiloid]

Happy holiday to everyone involved! I often think of the commentator AmuretsHe's been gone from the Far East for a long time. Yes, he had some connection to the railroad. I can't say exactly what connection, we can only guess at his position. He had some wonderful comments, both technical and about the Far East.

[Sergej1972]

Why contrast them? Kaganovich also contributed greatly to the development of rail transport. Kovalev, incidentally, lived a long life, and in his later years he was highly critical of Stalin and his human qualities, although he acknowledged his achievements as the leader of the USSR and Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

[bya965]

Quote: Sergej1972

Why contrast them? Kaganovich also did a lot to develop rail transport.

At the beginning of the war, Kaganovich introduced some innovations (for example, he changed the railcar control system), which led to chaos in the first weeks. Later, when it became clear that Kaganovich's work style was not entirely suited to wartime demands, he was indeed removed from his post as People's Commissar (in March 1942, the State Defense Committee issued a resolution stating that he "failed to cope with the work under wartime conditions"). After this, Kovalev firmly secured his role as the chief executive of railway transport during the war.

[Derbenev Anton]

Happy holiday, dear comrades! Happy Railway Troops Day!

[bubalik]

Happy holiday !!
"How can AI not draw anything?", a photo for the article, I wonder how they got the equipment into the gondola cars?

[Konnick]

After graduating from college, I was assigned to a cadre railway division as a motor company commander, the "division's organizational core." I commanded staff vans, loaves of bread on the railway, and attended several training camps. So, congratulations, fellow soldiers!

[Grossvater]

The 33-kilometer railway line to besieged Leningrad, including a bridge across the Neva, was built in 17 days. Through swamps, under fire. Trains ran one after another, at night. Along the entire route, traffic controllers stood like "human traffic lights." In winter. For 12 hours at a time.