MOSCOW CIRCULAR RAILWAY HAS A LONG TRACK RECORD

Abstract

[For the English abstract and full text of the article please see the attached PDF-File (English version follows Russian version)].ABSTRACT The Moscow railway junction, rapidly developing, by the end of 19th century no longer coped with cargo transportation. The reason for this was the dead-end organization of the stations, both in Russia and Europe, which played the role of terminal stations in large cities. After many but unsuccessful attempts to unload the railway terminal in Moscow, a decision was made to create a circular railway (Moscow Circular Railway (MCR)) in order to connect the dead-end radial branches and make the system more flexible and maneuverable. Well-known architects and engineers were invited to design and build the new railway, budgetary funds were allocated, emphasizing the special importance of the facility for the state: the European countries and Russia stood on the verge of the First World War, and the predictable collapse of rolling stock threatened the railways with inevitable calamities. Under these conditions, MCR became a universal complex of engineering structures and civil buildings, not only serving transshipment of goods and transporting passengers, but also containing pedestrian overpass bridges and soldiers’ barracks for mobile transfer of troops, as well as telegraph and telephone points of communication. This railway has been operating for 110 years and after reconstruction has received a new appointment as part of urban passenger transport. Keywords: Moscow Circular Railway, history projects, architecture, stations, bridges, stations, topography, reconstruction, urban transport functions.