While the former Soviet Union got a late (and slow) start with rail electrification in 1926 it eventually became the world leader in electrification in terms of the volume of traffic under the wires. During its last 30 years the Soviet Union hauled about as much rail freight as all the other countries in the world combined and in the end, over 60% of this was by electric locomotives. Electrification was cost effective due to the very high density of traffic and was at times projected to yield at least a 10% return on electrification investment (to replace diesel traction). By 1990, the electrification was about half 3 kV DC and half 25 kV AC 50 Hz and 70% of rail passenger-km was by electric railways.
+ Electrification ProgressFor 1991 see РИА Новости (RIA News; RIA=Russian Information Agency) 29.08.2004 section Экономика (Economics): "Исполняется 75 лет электрификации железных дорог России" (75th anniversary of electrification of railways in Russia)Ицаев table 1.2, p.30. Исаев uses the term "перевозочная робота" (transportation work) to mean tonne-km of freight since the same data as in his table 1.2 is also found in table 4 of Димитриев (p. 43) where it is more precisely labeled as "грузообороте" which unambiguously translates into tonne-km of freight. For 1950 total see Дмитриев table 4., p. 43; but its fails to differentiate by AC or DC resulting in blanks in the table.Year19401945195019551960196519701975198019881991Electrified at DC, Mm (Megametres)1.82.0-5.312.417.021.424.026.027.3Electrified at 25 kv AC, Mm (Megametres)00-0.11.48.012.514.817.725.5Total Electrified Mm (Megametres)1.82.03.05.413.824.933.938.943.752.954.3% of Rail Network1.82.03.04.511.019.025.028.130.836.1% of Rail Freight (in tonne-km)2.02.43.28.421.839.448.751.654.663.1
Comparison to the US and others Compared to the US, the Soviet Union got off to a very slow start in electrification but later greatly surpassed the US. Electrification in the US reached its maximum of 5,000 km in the late 1930ssee "The mystique of electrification" by David P. Morgan, Trains (magazine), July 1970, p.44+. He states that electrification reached its peak (in the US) of 3100 miles (1.23% of route-miles) but fails to give a date. But from the context, the date is between 1924–1957. The last major electrification was by the Pennsy (Pennsylvania Railroad) during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Since electrified mileage had decreased by 2/3 by 1957 (per Morgan) then the peak must have been well before 1957. With the big Pennsy electrification going on in the 1930s, total electrified mileage was likely increasing. This reasoning puts the peak at the end of the 1930s. Дмитриев p. 116 claims that there was almost no new electrification in the US from 1938-1973 which lends more credibility to the guesstimated time of the peak. Statistics on electrification may be found in the annual reports of the now defunct "Interstate Commerce Commission" (but have not yet been checked). Titles include "Annual report of the statistics of railways in the United States" (before 1955) and "Annual report on transport statistics in the United States" which is just when electrification was getting its start in the USSR.
About 20 years after the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union, China became the new world leader in rail electrification with 48,000 km electrified by 2013, and continuing to grow.See "Peoples Daily Online" (in English, newspaper) 5 December 2012 China's electric railway mileage exceeds 48,000 km
+ Megameters (thousand kilometers) of line electrified (c. 1987)Исаев table 1.1, p. 22.CountryUSSRJapanWest GermanyFranceMm of route electrified 51.7141211Total Mm of railway route144282834Percentage of route electrified 35.9%50.0%42.8%32.3% Mm, direct current (DC)27.380.86 Mm, Alternating current (AC) (50 Hz)24.4611.2 ( Hz)5
History
1920s: Lenin supports rail electrification Replacing steam traction (on lines with high traffic) by electrification was cost effectiveДмитриев p.42; Раков p.392 and this was the impetus for the first electrifications in the 1930s. The 1920 national electrification plan, GOELRO—ГОЭЛРО an acronym for Государственная комиссия по электрификации России (Government commission for electrification of Russia). See Дмитриев pp. 13-14; ГОЭЛРО included railway electrification and was strongly supported by Lenin, the leader of the Soviet Revolution. Lenin wrote a letterДмитриев p. 15 implying that if rail electrification was not feasible at the present time, might it not be feasible in 5–10 years from now. And in fact, railway electrification actually got started several years later but Lenin didn't live to see it happen.
In 1926 a 19 km long section from Baku, electrified at 1200 VDC, was opened for commuter motor-car trains.Исаев p. 24 In 1929, a 18 km section, electrified at 1500 V was opened from Moscow to Mytishchi. Future electrifications in the 1930s would be more substantial and mostly at 3000 VDC (3 kV).
1930s Some new electrification at 1.5 kV still continued but in the 1930s over three times as much electrification used 3 kV.Исаев p.30 table 1.2, p.24 Mainline railway electrification at 3 kV. in the Soviet Union began in 1932 with the opening of a 3,000 V DC section in Georgia on the Surami Pass between the capital, Tbilisi, and the Black Sea.Раковx p. 394+ See 11.2 Сурамские электровозы (Surami electric locomotives) The grade (slope) was steep: 2.9%. The original fleet of eight electric locomotives was imported from the United States and were made by General Electric (GE). The Soviets obtained construction drawings from GE enabling them to construct locomotives to the same design. The first electric locomotive constructed in the USSR was an indigenous design completed in November 1932. Later in the same month, the second locomotive, a copy of the GE locomotive, was completed. At first, many more copies of US design were made than ones of Soviet design. Then no more locomotives of Soviet design were made until two years later.
The 5-year plans for electrification in the 1930s all came up short. By October 1933, the first 5-year plan called for the electrification in the USSR to reach 456 km vs. 347 km actually achieved.Westwood. See pp. 173 and 308: Table 36: "Railway electrification: plans and achievement, 1930s ..." Future 5-year plans were even more under-fulfilled. For the 2nd 5-year plan (through 1937) it was 5062 km planned vs 1632 actual. In the 3rd 5-year plan (through 1942) it was 3472 vs. 1950 actual but the start of World War II in mid 1941 contributed to this shortfall.
World War II By 1941, the USSR had electrified only 1,865 route-kilometres.Плакс , 1993, See 1.2 (p.7+) This was well behind the US, which had nearly 5,000 kilometres electrified.Morgan, David P., "The Mystique of Electrification", Trains, July 1970. p. 44 However, since the USSR rail network was much shorter than the US, the percentage of Soviet rail kilometres electrified was greater than the US. During World War II, the western part of the Soviet Union (including parts of Russia) was invaded by Nazi Germany. About 600 km of electrification was dismantledИсаев p.25 just before invasion but after the Germans were finally driven out, some dismantled electrification was reinstalled. After the war, the highest priority was to rebuild the destruction caused by the war, so major railway electrification was further postponed for about 10 years.
Post-war In 1946 the USSR ordered 20 electric locomotives from General Electric,Middleton, William D., "Those Russian Electrics", Trains, July 1970. pp. 42-3. Middleton, William D. "When the steam railroads electrified 2nd ed." Univ. of Indiana, 2001. p.238 the same US corporation that supplied locomotives for the first Soviet electrification. Due to the Cold War, they could not be delivered to the USSR so they were sold elsewhere. The Milwaukee Road and some other railroad companies in the US obtained 12, which were converted to standard gauge. They were nicknamed "Little Joes" ("Joe" referring to Joseph Stalin, the Soviet premier).
In the mid-1950s, the USSR launched a two-pronged approach to replace steam locomotives. They would electrify the lines with high density traffic and slowly convert the others to diesel. The result was a slow but steady introduction of both electric and diesel traction which lasted until about 1975 when their last steam locomotives were retired.Плакс , p. 7 Fig. 1.3 In the US, steam went out about 1960,Railroad Facts: Table: Locomotives in Service 15 years earlier than for the USSR.
Once dieselisation and electrification had fully replaced steam they began to convert diesel lines to electric, but the pace of electrification slowed. By 1990, over 60% of railway freight was being hauled by electric traction.Плакс , p. 3 (no 3 printed on p. but has heading: "От авторов") This amounted to about 30% of the freight hauled by all railways in the world (by all types of locomotives)United Nations (Statistical Office) Statistical Yearbook. See tables in older issues titled: "World railway traffic". This table has since been discontinued. and about 80% of rail freight in the US (where rail freight held almost a 40% modal share)."Transportation in America", Statistical Analysis of Transportation in the United States (18th edition), with historical compendium 1939-1999, by Rosalyn A. Wilson, pub. by Eno Transportation Foundation Inc., Washington DC, 2001. See table: Domestic Ton-Miles by Mode, p.12. Note that the US "Bureau of Transportation Statistics" reports a lower figure but its calculation includes non-intercity trucking and also includes coastwise shipping both of which are excluded by "Transportation in America" of intercity freight ton-miles. The USSR was hauling more rail freight than all the other countries in the world combined, and most of this was going by electrified railway.
Electrification in individual (former) Soviet republics Estonia
The Estonian Railways use 3000 V DC rail lines for commuter traffic with a total length of 132.5 km. These are the railway lines:
Tallinn – Pääsküla – Electrified in 1924 to a 1200 V DC, this was the first electrified railway line in the Baltics. Tallinn – Keila – The line was electrified in 1958 to a 3000 V DC. Keila – Paldiski – Electrified 1958-1962. Klooga – Kloogaranna – Electrified in 1960. Tallinn – Kehra – Electrified in 1973. Kehra – Aegviidu – Electrified in 1978. Keila – Turba – The line was electrified between the sections of Keila – Vasalemma in 1965 and between Vasalemma – Riisipere in 1981. The electrified section between Riisipere and Turba was opened in December 2019.
Electrification of the state-owned long-distance passenger network to the east and south is underway, with the newly-built sections east of Aegviidu being constructed as 25 kV AC compared to the existing 3 kV DC commuter network. Tallinn – Tartu railway is the first to be completed, with the section between Aegviidu and Jõgeva expected to be ready by February 2025 and from there on to Tartu by August 2025. Following that, the electrification of the Tapa – Narva railway is due to be completed by the end of 2026. The previously planned full electrification of the state-owned passenger network, including branches south of Tartu to Valga and Koidula is no longer planned due to high construction costs, however battery-powered trains may be considered instead.ERR News. Need to cut costs means rail electrification south of Tartu will not go ahead
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan does not have any electrified railways.
Latvia
The Latvian railway network has 257 kilometers of electrified 3 kV DC on four lines centered around Riga. The LDz has the following electrified railway lines:
Torņakalns–Tukums II Railway – The line is electrificted in 1950 on a part Rīga – Dubulti. Then the catenary extended a year later to Kemeri and in 1966 to Tukums, completing the electrification of the entire railway line.