SOVIET CONSTRUCTION OF RAIL LINES IN VIRGIN LAND AREAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700230013-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: February 15, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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STAT
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SOVIET CONSTRUCTION OF RAII, LINES IN VIROII7 LAND AREAS
Gudok,
Moscow, 28 oct 1954
In the great expanse from the upper reaches of the Tobol River to the
Irtysh and the Ob' rivers, the construction of 2,132 kilometers of rail lines
is beginning. The new lines, principally of narrow gauge, will run from west
to east and from north to south, cutting through the great areas of virgin and
undeveloped lands which are beginning to be cultivated in Kazakhstan. The pur-
pose of these lines is to sid in the quickest development of the new lands and
to provide an exit for grain and other agricultural products from the hinterland
regions. [See appended sketch.)
The Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Transport Construction must,
in August 1955, open 850 kilometers of track in the rew regions for limited train
traffic.
In volume and national economic significance, the work to be done by the
transport construction crews may be compared to the construction of the heavily
traveled main lines. The length of the planned lines equals the distance from
Moscow to Dfurmansk and there will be 18 million hectares of land suitable for
wheat groxing connected to the new lines. After a year, the young crops will
surpass the wheat ereas of England, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, and Bolland
taken together.
Of the over-all lenCth of the new lines, 1,850 kilometers will be narrow-
gauge and 282 kilometers will be broad-gauge.
The lines will pass over the main grain-cultivating areas of Kazakhstan,
including the Severo-Kazakhstanskaya, Al~iolinskaya, Kokchetavskaya, Pavlodar-
skaya, aad Kustanayskaya oblasts, and will encompass separate regicns of the
Chkalovskaya and Kurganskaya oblasts and the Altayskiy Kray.
The Kustanay-peski-Kokchetav line, 450 kilometers long, will pass through
the Kustanayskiy, Mendygarinskiy, Ubaganskiy, and Uritskiy rayons of the
Kustanayskaya Oblast, will provide an outlet i'or grain of the Oktyabr'skiy
Rayon of the Severo-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast, and will connect the Ayrtauskiy,
Ruzayevskiy, Kokchetavskiy, and Aryk-Balykskiy rayons of the Kokchetavskaya
Oblast.
The Kokchetav--Kzyl-Tu--Kaymanachikha stretch which will be 380 kilometers
long and will pass over the Chkalovskiy, Enbekshil'derskiy, and Kzyltuskiy
rayons of the Kokchetavskaya Oblast. It will also serve the Irtyshskiy Rayon
of the Pavlodarskaya Oblast and the Russko-Polyanskiy Rayon of the Omskaya
Oblast. In the area oi' Kaymatiachikha Station this lice will come out or. the
left bunk of the Irtysh River.
From Kurgan Station to Peski through the Sovkhoz lmeni Khrustichev, 275
kilometers of track are to be laid. The areas wl:icl: will be coru;ected to
this line are: the Kurganskiy and Lebyazh'yevskiy rayons of the Kurganskaya
Oblast, Presnogor'kovskiy Rayon of the Kustanayskaya Oblast, Ruzayevskiy Rayon
of the Kokchetavskaya Oblast, and Oktyabr'skiy and Presnovskiy rayons of the
Severo-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast.
The distance by rail from Atbasar northward to Peski Station will be 175
kilometers. This line will intersect Atbasarskiy Rayon of Akmolinskaya Oblast
and Aryk-Balyskiy Rayon of :tokchetavskaya Oblast. From Atbasar southward, the
line will extend 100 kilometers to the Sovkhoz "Krasnoznamenskiy."
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x111 be laid to serve the Uritaki yV ~ricsxnye Station, 200 kilometers of track
and Ruzayevskiy Rayon of KokchetavskayaSOblastrn p lOp-lcilometertlinesisybei~ng~st
constructed from Bulayevo Station to Sovkhoz Smeni Malenkov and is to serve the
Bulayevakly Rayon of the Severo-Kazakhstanskaya Oblast and Chkalovakiy Rayon of
the Kokchetavakaya Oblast.
From Shil'da Station to Sovkhoz "Ozerr~yy," 170 kilometers of track x111 be
laid to serve the Adamovskiy Rayon of the Chkalovskays Oblast.
A broad-gauge line will be laid from Tuz-Kale Station northward to Uspenka
f32 kilometers). A 250-kilometer, broad-gauge line will also rur. from Karasuk
to Kamen'na Obi near the left bank of the Ob' River. Eventuall~~, this line x111
become part of the rail line planted from Barnaul to Omsk.
All of the above lines are to be in full operation in August 1957?
BY.AuBust 1955, the following routes must be put into limited operation:
Kustanay to Uritskoye, a distance of 135 kilometers on the Kustanay_peski
line.
Kokchetav to Volodarskoye, 60 kilometers on the route to Peski.
Kurgan to Sovkhoz imeni Khrushchev, 160 kilometers on the route to Peski.
Atbasar to Sovkhoz "Pobeda", 50 kilometers on the route to Peski.
Atbasar to Sovkhoz "Krasnoznamenskiy", 100 kilometers.
Bulayevo to Sovkhoz imeni Malenkov, 100 kilometers.
Yesil' to Sovkhoz imeni Lomonosov, 90 kilometers on the route to
Uritskoye.
Shil'da to Adamovka, 75 kilometers.
Kokchetav to Kzyl-Tu, 80 kilometers.
By the completion of all the sections from Kustanay to Kaymanachikha, a
narrow-gauge line 830 kilometers long will be developed. It x111 run in a
latitudinal direction, parallel to the present broad-gauge main lines of
Chelyabinsk-Omsk-Novosibirsk and Magnitogorsk-Akmolinsk-Barnaul, approximately
halibay between them. The main purpose of this line is to provide an outlet
from the new grain regions. Eventually the narrox-gauge line Kustanay_peski_
Kokchetav-Kaymanachikha will play a pioneer role in the laying of a broad-gauge
mid-Siberian main line.
The 550-kilometer stretch being laid from Kurgan to the Sovkhoz "K^asnoznamen-
skit will strengthen transport connections between Karaganda and the Ural
Mountains.
Individual sections on which limited train traffic must be started by August
1955 will at first be of singular importance for the loading and dispatching of
newly harvested grain. The eventual inclusion of these sections into a unified
narrow-~auoe aetwork is a Necessary requisite for the speedy movement df the
rolling stock, the development of a single train-movement chart, and the hauling
of increasing freight flows.
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In 1954, the kolkhozes, MPS, and sovkhozes o1' Kazakhstan have plowed
for harvesting in 1955 more than 8 million hectares of virgin and ur:culti-
vated land, surpassing the state plan by 1.7 million hectares. As a result,
the area sown in the republic for harvesting in 1955 will amount to 18.6 .
million hectares, against 9.2 million hectares in 1953? In 1956, the sown
area vi]1 amount to 28.5 million hectares, since it is planned for 1956 that
IO million hectares of virgin and uncultivated soil will be plowed for
harvesting.
A great deal of attention has been directed toward developing rich har-
vests in the sown areas. On a number of kolkhozes and sovkhozes, a 20-cert-
ner [about 2,204 pounds] yield of wheat per hectare of virgin lard is al-
ready considered average.
However, although grain is the determining factor in the construction of
the new rail lines, it will not be the only freight hauled aver these lin=s.
Theze will be a great inflow of freight to the new lands, especially fuel,
lubricating materials, and spare parts for the equipment used in plowing, plsnt-
irtg, and gathering the grain.
There will alse be consumer goods for the people living and working ir, the
area, ar:d rock for corstruction, from the projected quarries at Kzyl-Tu and
at Kamen' na Obi on the bank o1' the Ob' River. Timber and metal will also be
hauled over the new lines.
It is, at present, difficult to say just what freight besides grain will
be hauled, and in whst directions, over the new narrow- and broad-gauge lines.
While drawing up the plans for the distribution of the future stations, termi-
rals, and transshipment points, the planners are also helping to decide just
where the new grain wareitcuses and elevators, sovkhoz settlements, ac,d electric
power statiors are to be located.
The narrow-gauge rail lines :gust oe constructed quicl~ly with a mita:au:a
amount of work and monetary- e:.-pcrse. TY.ey are somewhat cheaper to construct
than hard-surface roads and considerably cheaper than. broad-gauge rail lines.
The operation of narrow-gauge rail litres it: this area xill provide a more
convenient mode of transportation, especially by comparison with road trans-
portation. A great deal of experiec:ce has beets accumulated in the USSR it; the
operation of rarrow-gauge rail lines. The over-all operating length of the
existing narrow-gauge rail lines in the USSR is equal to the over-all railroad
network of England.
Narrow-gauge lines serve the timber, sugar, and peat industries. The
Beloretsk, Alapayevsk, and Vyksa narrow-gauge lines of the Ministry of Ferrous
Metallurgy cover 300-4UG kilometers. It, the virgir. land area, the narrow-gauge
rail laid will amount to 1,850 ltiiometers.
The Ministry oC Ferrous Metallurgy, beginr:ing with 1954, is obliga,ea to
increase the output of narrow-gauge rail at:d to 3eliver tc the Ministry of
Transport Construction 40,000 tons of rail, complete with i'astenings. The
Ministry of Transport Machine n,.rildino masr produce tY:ousards of n:irrou-gauge
boxcars with a carrying capacity of 16.E tons and also special 20-ton cars
for the hauling of grain. These tasks are to be accomplished by series pro-
duction.
:The narrow-gauge lines will be supplied with powerful steata locomotives.
and internal-combustion-engine locomotives. The Ministry of Railways must
begin now to prepare crews for the various professions, and also technical-
engineering workers specialized in the field of narrow-gauge railroads.
STAT
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The constructors must be provided with special track-laying machines,
ballasting equipment, tamping machines, and other mechanical equip~zent.
The construction of the narrow-gauge lines in the virgin ]and areas must
be carried on oven nine xroutes simultaneously. The first group of construction
workers and the mechanized columns have arrived, following the surveying expedi-
tions, at the stations of K?.~stanay and Kokchetav, Kurgan, Atbasar and Yesil'
Bulayevo and Shil'da. The work charts have already beenissued for leveling
off the first stage of the roadbed. r,arthwork haF begun in the areas of Kurgan,
Kustanay, Atbasar, Bulayevo, and Yesil'.
A number of construction administrations are slow in the try^sfer of working
forces, prefabricated housing, and machinery to the virgin lend Brea. The suc-
cess of the operation will depend, in large measure, on how quickly and expediently
the machinery, such as excavators, bulldozers, and scrapers, is introduced and
how well the workers are provided with necessities and cultural advantages.
The construction workers will receive help from local soviet and social or-
ganizations, and sovkhoz and kolkhoz workers. To help in the construction,
thousands of workers will also arrive from the RSFSR, Belorussia, the Ukraine,
and Yszakhstan. The Ministry of Timber Industry USSR has pledged to load and
dispatch, in the next o months, 20,000 square meters of prefabricated houses,
thousands of cubic meters of round timber and lumber, and a ls.rge..quantity of
railroad ties for the use of the construction workers.
The decision to lsy rail lines in virgin and uncultivated land areas was
reached at the June Plenum [1954] of the Central Committee of the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union.
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