Norilsk railway

Norilsk Railway (Russian: Норильская железная дорога) is a single-track railway and formerly the northernmost railway line in Russia.

Norilsk Railway
Talnakh is a small station on the railway.
Overview
Native name	Норильская железная дорога
Locale	Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia
History
Opened	1937 (1937)
Technical
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
Route map 127 Taymyr mine 125 Octyabrskyy mine 124 Kharayelakh avariynyy spillway shtatnyy spillway Energiya (TETs-2) 119 Yelistratova (node) Obogatitel'naya fabrika 122 Komsomolskaya 120 Komsomolsky mine Skalistyy mine Fedorovskaya street Talnakh river 117 Mayak Talnakh river 116 Talnakh Talnakh river 114 Marker 114 km Norilsk river Big Ol-Gul river 106 Valyok Nalednaya river 99 Golikova Pavlova street Valkovskoye highway Semyorka river 97 Marker 97 km 95 TETs-1 Tsemstroy depo Kobal'tovaya Zavodskaya No. 4 Talnakhskaya street Nikelevyy Stop Octyabskaya street Medvezhiy creek Nulevoy piket Ugolnyy creek 93 Skladskaya Razvedochnyy creek Zapadnaya Baydarskaya Ugolnyy creek Ugolnyy creek Zapolyarnyy mine Octyabrskaya ploshchad 90 Zub-Gora Shchuch'ya river 89 Norilsk-Sortirovochnyy Angidritnaya Vokzalnaya street Mednaya 88 17 raion Razvedochnyy creek Bunkernaya Alevrolitnaya Malyy Kupets river Kupets river 86 Kupets TETs-3 85 85 km Yubileynaya Snezhnaya river 82 82 km 79 Nezhdanaya Daldykan river Lugovoy creek 75 RGM. Daldykan Kalargon Kayerkan river 73 Razrez Kayerkan 68 Ambarnaya Ambarnaya river 53 Alykel Airport 47 47 km Volgochan river 43 Bolgochan 39 39 km Sukhoy Log Creek 36 36 km 32 32 km 31 31 km 26 Boganidka Yamnaya river 23 23 km Bystraya river 21 Tundra 17 17 km Kosaya river 13 Kosaya 8 8 km Sklad VV Artinatka river 3 Dudinka-Sortirovochnaya Korotkaya street 1 Dudinka-Passenger station Morozova street Rechnoy port Begicheva street Sklad GSM Okruzhnaya street Veyernaya street 0 Morskoy port

Main information

The railway is in northern Krasnoyarsk Krai, southern Taimyr Peninsula and connects the mining towns Talnakh, Norilsk and Kayerkan with the port Dudinka on the Yenisei. The railway line has a 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge, and was partially constructed by the prisoners of Norillag. Originally, it was 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) narrow gauge, 114 km long, and built in 1936. Later, in 1953, it was rebuilt to Russian broad gauge and expanded to 231 km of track. The railway is owned by the Norilsk Nickel mining company and does not belong to Russian Railways.

Map of Norilsk railway

From 1957 onwards, the railway was electrified with 3kV DC in stages. Electrical Multiple Units of the ER1 and ER2 series were used for suburban passenger transportation. VL10 locomotives were used to haul heavy freight trains on the railway.

In the 1990s, the railway was in serious decline. In 1998 the electric catenary was removed and the electric rolling stock sold off. Diesel locomotives haul freight trains since then, passenger service on the railway was discontinued.

In the early 1990s, a paved highway connecting Norilsk with Dudinka was completed. The passenger train service on the Norilsk Line ended in 1998.

In 2010 in the Yamal Peninsula, Gazprom completed its Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line, which is now the northernmost railway in Russia.

See also

• Salekhard–Igarka Railway

External links

• Norilsk railway on Sergey Bolashenko's railway site (Russian)
• Trip to the Norilsk railway and photos (Russian)