Baikal-Amur Magistral in green; Trans-Siberian line in red

The Baikal-Amur Mainline (Russian Байкало-Амурская Магистраль, Baikalo-Amurskaya Magistral’, BAM) is a railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the 4,234 km (2,305 mile) long BAM runs about 380 to 480 miles north of and parallel with the Trans-Siberian railway. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x707, 292 KB) Beschreibung Map of Trans-Siberian railway Trans-Siberian = line in red Baikal Amur Mainline = in green. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x707, 292 KB) Beschreibung Map of Trans-Siberian railway Trans-Siberian = line in red Baikal Amur Mainline = in green. ... Siberian Federal District (dark red) and the broadest definition of Siberia (red) Udachnaya pipe Siberia (Russian: , Sibir; Tatar: ) is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia. ... Trans-Siberian line in red; Baikal Amur Mainline in green. ...

The BAM was built as a strategic alternative route to the Trans-Siberian Railway, especially to the vulnerable sections close to the border with China. BAM's costs were estimated at $14 billion, and it was built with special, durable tracks since much of it was built over permafrost. In geology, permafrost or permafrost soil is a thermal condition where ground material stays at or below 0°C for two or more years. ...

History

The route of the present-day BAM was first considered in the 1880s as an option for the eastern section of the Trans-Siberian railway.

The section from Tayshet to Bratsk was built in the 1930s. Most of the Far Eastern section was built during the years of 1944-1946, mainly by gulag prisoners, including German and Japanese prisoners of war, of whom possibly as many as 150,000 died.^{[citation needed]} In 1953, following Stalin's death, virtually all construction work on the BAM stopped and the line was abandoned to the elements for more than twenty years. Taishet, also spelled Tayshet (Тайшет in Russian) is a town and railroad junction in the Irkutsk Oblast in Russia. ... Bratsk is a Russian city in the Irkutsk Oblast in eastern Siberia. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Gulag ( , Russian: ) is an acronym for Главное Управление Исправительно—Трудовых Лагерей и колоний, Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i kolonii, The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies of the NKVD. Anne Applebaum, in her book Gulag: A History, explains: // Literally, the word GULAG is an acronym, meaning Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314...

In March 1974, Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev stated that a new BAM project would become a huge Komsomol undertaking. Brezhnev famously stated that "BAM will be constructed with clean hands only!" and firmly rejected the suggestion to use prison labor again. The USSR described BAM as "the construction project of the century." In September 1984, a "golden spike", akin to one used in Utah in 1867, was hammered into place, connecting the eastern and western sections of the BAM. The Western media was not invited to attend this historic event as Soviet officials did not want any questions asked about the line's operational status and working conditions of the construction workers. In reality, only one third of the BAM's track was fully operational. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev Russian: ; January 1, 1907 [O.S. December 19, 1906] – November 10, 1982) was the effective ruler of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, at first in partnership with others. ... Komsomol (Комсомол) is a syllabic abbreviation word, from the Russian Kommunisticheski Soyuz Molodiozhi (Коммунистический союз молодёжи), or Communist... Penal labour is a form of the unfree labour. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ex-Virginia and Truckee Railroad No. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1867 (MDCCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

At least 60 boomtowns developed around the route of BAM. A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid growth, normally attributed to the discovery of a precious resource such as gold or silver. ...

BAM was again declared complete in 1991. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Yet another declaration of completion was made with a recent major improvement: the launch of the 15.343 km Severomuisk Tunnel on December 5, 2003. Up to 1.5 km deep, the tunnel is one of the longest railway tunnels in the world. Construction took twenty-seven years to complete. Prior to this, the corresponding route segment was 54km long, with heavy slopes necessitating auxiliary locomotive. Severomuysky Tunnel (Russian: ) is a railroad tunnel on the Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM), in northwestern Buryatia, Russia. ... December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... // The Worlds Longest Tunnels Railroad (excluding subways) Vehicular Top 100 ↑  A subaqueous tunnel ↑  Under construction ↑  Worlds longest tunnel 1948 - 1964 ↑  Worlds longest tunnel 1964 - 1978 ↑  Closed in 2000 See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tunnel Tunnel List of tunnels External links The worlds longest...

Route

The BAM departs from the Trans-Siberian railway at Tayshet, then crosses the Angara river at Bratsk, crosses the Lena river, proceeds past Severobaikalsk at the northern tip of Lake Baikal, past Tynda and Khani, crosses the Amur River at Komsomolsk-na-Amure and finally reaches the Pacific Ocean at Sovetskaya Gavan. Of the whole route, Tayshet-Taksimo sector of 1,429 km is electrified. Taishet, also spelled Tayshet (Тайшет in Russian) is a town and railroad junction in the Irkutsk Oblast in Russia. ... Angara (Ангара́) is a river, 1840 km (1150 m. ... Bratsk is a Russian city in the Irkutsk Oblast in eastern Siberia. ... The Lena River ( Russian: Ле́на) in Siberia is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed. ... Severobaykalsk (Russian: ) is a town in the Buryat Republic, Russia. ... The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. ... Tynda (Тында in Russian) is a town in the Amur Oblast in Russia, located on the Tynda River (Amur basin). ... Ehmedê Xanî, (or Ahmad Khani), (1651-1707) was a Kurdish writer and poet. ... The Amur (Russian: Амур) (Simplified Chinese: 黑龙江; Traditional Chinese: 黑龍江; Hēilóng Jiāng, literally meaning Black Dragon River) (Mongolian: Хара-Мурэн, Khara-Muren or Black River) (Manchu: Sahaliyan Ula, literal meaning Black... Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Russian: Комсомо́льск-на-Аму́ре; often transliterated directly as Komsomolsk-na-Amure) is a city located in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia on the left bank of Amur River. ... Sovetskaya Gavan (Russian: Советская Гавань) - city in Russia, in Khabarovsk Krai, port on the Strait of Tartary (part of Sea of Japan), eastern terminus of the BAM railway line. ...

References

• Brown, Dale M. and Mann, Martin, editors. Library of Nations: The Soviet Union. 1985. Time Life Books. Alexandria, Virginia. ISBN 0-8094-5327-4