Rail Crisis on the Russian Railways during the First World War and Efforts to Overcome It

Abstract

The article examines the shortage of rails, fittings, and switches on the Russian railways during the First World War. With the beginning of the war, the necessity to repair and restore railways within the theater of operations became apparent, which required a large amount of railway track material. In 1914, these needs could still be met by the allocation of new orders to Russian factories, as well as at the expense of existing stocks. Nonetheless, at the beginning of 1915, it became obvious that the wartime needs significantly exceeded the capabilities of Russian enterprises. In the summer of 1915, the government placed a large order for track materials abroad, which was fully executed. Even though the Field Headquarters demanded that more rails should be ordered abroad, the government refused to place a new order abroad due to the need to buy foreign currency at unfavorable exchange rate, hoping that Russian enterprises could cover all the needs. But these plans failed, and since the summer of 1915 the lack of track materials had become one of the main problems of the Russian railways. The Ministry of Transportation was forced to take emergency measures to give the front the required number of rails, fittings, and switches. Firstly, the rear roads were asked to dismantle some of the secondary and inactive lines, then — to remove rails from fences, hitching posts and guard rails from the bridges. However, these measures, while worsening the general condition of the Russian railways, did not give the desired effect.