Historedia
EuropeEvent

Tsarskoye Selo Railway opens

When
1837–1838
Where
Saint Petersburg
Episodes
3

The Tsarskoye Selo Railway, the first public railway in the Russian Empire, opened on 30 October 1837. Engineered by Franz Anton von Gerstner, the 27 km line ran from Saint Petersburg to Pavlovsk through Tsarskoye Selo; the opening-day service ran to Tsarskoye Selo. Early operations relied heavily on horse-drawn trains, with steam power expanding through 1838.

Episodes

  1. 30 October 1837 · Saint PetersburgOfficial Opening

    The railway officially opened on 30 October 1837 with a steam-hauled train traveling from Saint Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo in 35 minutes.

  2. January–April 1838 · Saint PetersburgInitial Operations

    Between January and April 1838, most trains were pulled by horses, with steam locomotives used only on Sundays and public holidays.

  3. 15 May 1838 · Saint PetersburgSchedule Introduction

    A regular train schedule was introduced on 15 May 1838, featuring five trips per day between Saint Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo.

Background and detail

Background. In August 1834, the Russian Mining Ministry invited Austrian-Czech engineer Franz Anton von Gerstner to explore railway construction in Russia. Following his report to Nicholas I in January 1835, imperial decrees in March and April 1836 authorized the project. Construction began in May 1836 under the supervision of 17 engineers, some with prior experience in England.

Construction. Work started in early May 1836. While the line near Tsarskoye Selo was completed in 1836, steam locomotives had not yet arrived. Consequently, initial test trips in September and October 1836 used horse-drawn trains. Steam locomotive tests began in November 1836 on a section between Pavlovsk and Bolshoe Kuzmino.

Opening. The railway officially opened on 30 October 1837. An 8-carriage train hauled by a steam locomotive traveled from Saint Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo in 35 minutes. The event was extremely popular, reflected in news, handicrafts, and theater performances in Russia.

Operations. Between January and April 1838, most trains were pulled by horses, with steam locomotives used only on Sundays and public holidays. A regular train schedule was introduced on 15 May 1838, featuring five trips per day between Saint Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo.

People involved

Sources

  1. Tsarskoye Selo Railway Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-09
  2. Franz Anton von Gerstner Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-23

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.