The Belorusskaja železnaja doroga or Belaruskaja čyhunka , is the national state-owned railway company of Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

. It operates all the railway network

Rail transport in Belarus

Rail transport in Belarus is owned by the national rail company BŽD / BČ . The railway network consists of 5,512 km, its gauge is 1,520 mm and 874 km are electrified.-History:...

 in the country. Its name means "Belorussian Railway". As of 2005, the railway employs 112,173 people.

Overview

The company, formed in 1992 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...

, is one of the inheritors of the Soviet Railways (SŽD). It administrates 5,512 km of railway with Russian

Russian gauge

In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....

 broad gauge

Broad gauge

Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

 (1,520 mm), and its most important station is Minsk Terminal

Minsk Terminal

Minsk Passazhirsky is the main passenger rail terminal in Belarus. It is located in the centre of Minsk. It is sometimes called Minsk Ploshchad Lenina due to the metro station serving the terminal, or simply Minsk.-History:The station was built in 1873 as Vilenski vakzal, Vilnius station...

, the central station of the capital.

BZD/BC is a company subordinated to the ministry of transport and composed by 85 organizations with a status of legal person. The rail network is divided into 6 departments: Minsk

Minsk

- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

, Baranovichi

Baranovichi

Baranovichi , is a city in the Brest Province of western Belarus with a population of 173,000. It is a significant railway junction and home to a state university.-Overview:...

, Brest

Brest, Belarus

Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...

, Gomel, Mogilev

Mogilev

Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...

 and Vitebsk

Vitebsk

Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...

.

Rolling stock

Electric locomotive

Electric locomotive

An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...

s

• VL80
  VL80
  The VL80 is a Soviet built electric AC mainline freight locomotive. The initials VL are those of Vladimir Lenin , after whom the class is named.-History:...
  
  
• ChS4t
• ER9
  ER9 electric trainset
  For servicing suburban commuter lines, electrified on 25 kV, AC, the Railcar Manufacturing Plant of Riga produced ER9, then ER9p electric trainsets in the 1966-1975 period. The mass production of these trains had begun in 1964.-Railcar types:...
  
  
• Stadler FLIRT
  Stadler FLIRT
  Stadler FLIRT is an electric multiple unit produced by Stadler Rail AG. The articulated trainset comes in units of two to six cars with two to six motorized axles. The maximum speed is 200 km/h...
  
  
• BCG-1, high powered twin unit freight locomotives similar to China Railways HXD2
  China Railways HXD2
  The HXD2 locomotives are a series of related locomotive classes built by CNR Datong Electric Locomotive and Alstom. The locomotives designs are based on the Alstom Prima electric locomotives, and are a product of a cooperation agreement signed between the two companies in 2004...
  
  , 12 units ordered October 2010.

Diesel locomotive

Diesel locomotive

A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

s

• M62 locomotive
• DR1 multiple unit
• ChME3
  ChME3
  Locomotive CME3 is diesel locomotive with electric transmission built by ČKD. This locomotive is used for shunting and other purposes in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other ex-USSR countries....
  
  
• TGK2
• TE10 locomotive
• TE116 locomotive
• TEP60 locomotive
• TEP70 locomotive

See also

• Minsk Passazhirsky railway station
• Rail transport in Belarus
  Rail transport in Belarus
  Rail transport in Belarus is owned by the national rail company BŽD / BČ . The railway network consists of 5,512 km, its gauge is 1,520 mm and 874 km are electrified.-History:...
  
  
• Railway stations in Belarus
• History of railways in Belarus

External links

BŽD official website