On the Issue of Pre-Revolutionary Projects of the Pass Railway in Transcaucasia

Abstract

For more than 150 years, the issue of building a railway through the Main Caucasus Range in its central part, has been discussed, which has posed the main problem of railway construction in the Caucasus. The question of why the railway crossing through the Caucasus ridge should necessarily go through the central part of the ridge was immediately obvious and understandable. In Transcaucasia, of course, it was possible to make a road along the Black Sea and along the Caspian Sea, which was eventually done, but the direction through the central part of the Caucasus Range is of great strategic and economic importance. Such a superhighway opens the meek path from Russia and Europe to Transcaucasia, and from there to Turkey and Persia, India and the Middle East. The article analyzes the discussion of projects of a pass through the Caucasian ridge of the railway. What projects were proposed, what were their advantages and disadvantages, who and It is considered, what projects were proposed, what were their advantages and disadvantages, who and why were interested in each project. The main problem of the construction of the pass railway was of technical issues. And although in 1917 the authorities of Vladikavkaz actually launched the construction of a pass road, the issues of the technical plan were not yet fully clarified. But there is no doubt that if it were not for the revolutionary events, the pass road would eventually be built, since Vladikavkaz was very interested in its construction. Today, the construction of a pass railway is still an urgent task. Therefore, it is necessary to know and analyze the projects of past years.