Railway Troops: War on the Rails

Railway Troops - a specialized type of troops, which is a structural part of the Ground Forces and is intended for the construction, restoration and covering of railway communications in a real combat situation. In any war the value of this kind of troops is difficult to overestimate. After all, railways are the blood vessels of war. With the help of railway transport, troops are redeployed, reserves, weapons and military equipment, ammunition and food are brought to the front line. It is from the functioning of this type of transport that the success of major military campaigns and full-scale wars largely depends.

The railway troops of the Russian Federation by their history are inextricably linked with the history of the state itself. The contribution of servicemen of this kind of troops to strengthening defense power and developing the infrastructure of Russia's railway transport is truly enormous. The railway troops took part in all armed conflicts and large wars that fell to the country's share.

The military railwaymen played an important role during the Second World War. Practically from the first day of the war, the Railway Troops carried out tasks to protect the communication routes from German air raids and to ensure their uninterrupted operation. And after the beginning of the global counter-offensive, our troops immediately began to restore the destroyed infrastructure.

In total, during the war period, the railway troops rebuilt and built about 120 thousand kilometers of main, peripheral and station routes, more than 15 thousand facilities, which made it possible to provide unprecedented military wars in the history of wars, which amounted to about 20 million wagons . Sappers of this kind of troops during the same period have defused more than 2 million mines and unexploded aircraft bombs. The glorious deeds of the military railwaymen greatly approximated the hour of the Great Victory.

Today, the Russian railway troops are engaged in technical cover, restoration, demining, blocking of sections and objects of the railway infrastructure, and also solve a number of other equally important tasks. Particularly important is the mission of railway soldiers in the aspect of activating terrorism on the territory of Russia, including railroad transport.

In modern conditions this type of troops performs not only military-tactical tasks, but also civil missions of extraordinary importance for the national economy of the country. This military railroad is assisted by the most modern special-purpose equipment. For example, lifting-straightening and straightening machines, flat lifting frame-screw bearings and many other specialized mechanisms.

The technical capabilities, mobility and autonomy of the railway troop units were vividly demonstrated during the humanitarian mission in the Abkhazian Republic. Terrestrial technical reconnaissance revealed a catastrophic condition of one of the sections of the railway, which is of fundamental importance for the economy of Abkhazia. In record time, the military railway workers restored the message on the fifty-kilometer section of Vesyoloye-Ochamchira. Timely repair of roads not only revived the economy of a young independent republic, but also ensured the safe movement of military echelons during an operation to compel Georgia to sign a peace treaty.