This year, around 50,000 Russian Railways employees will take spending their first winter on the network.
In parts of Yakutia, north-east Russia, the mercury can fall below -65 degrees celsius and average temperatures don’t get much warmer than -20 degrees celsius in many parts of the country.
To prepare for the winter chill 743 station buildings, 1,180 passenger pavilions, about 2,000 booking offices and 15,000 platforms have had grit stocks replenished.
Sapsan high-speed trains have also began running through de-icing procedures before departure and winter stocks of fuel, coal, lubricants, spare parts and equipment for locomotives, cars and other vehicles have been laid in.
Click here to read about David Shirres’ winter expedition around northern Russia’s railway.
