Baikal–Amur Mainline

Map of major railways in Russia, with Trans-Siberian Railway shown in red, the Baikal-Amur Mainline in green and the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline (including "Little BAM") shown in orange

The BAM departs from the Trans-Siberian railway at Tayshet, then crosses the Angara River at Bratsk and the Lena River at Ust-Kut, proceeds past Severobaikalsk at the northern tip of Lake Baikal, past Tynda and Khani, crosses the Amur River at Komsomolsk-on-Amur and finally reaches the Pacific Ocean at Sovetskaya Gavan. There are 21 tunnels along the line, with a total length of 47 km (29 mi). There are also more than 4,200 bridges, with a total length of over 400 kilometres (250 mi).[4]

Of the whole route, only the western Tayshet-Taksimo sector of 1,469 km (913 mi) is electrified. The route is largely single-track, although the reservation is wide enough for double-tracking for its full length, in the case of eventual duplication. The unusual thing about the railway is that it is electrified with a 27.5 kV, 50 Hz catenary minimum height at 6.5 metres (21 ft 4 in) above top of the rails to suit double-stacking under the overhead wires on the Russian gauge tracks, which requires rolling stock to be modified for service on the railway.

At Tynda the route is crossed by the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline, which runs north to Neryungri and Tommot, with an extension to Nizhniy Bestyakh opened in 2019.[5] The original section of the AYaM connecting the Trans-Siberian at Bamovskaya with the BAM at Tynda is also referred to as the "Little BAM".

During the winter the passenger trains go from Moscow past Tayshet and Tynda to Neryungri and Tommot and there are also a daily trains from Tynda to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Sovetskaya Gavan on the Pacific Ocean via Vanino ("Vladivostok-Sovetskaya Gavan" train No.351Э). Travel time from Tayshet to Tynda is 48 hours.[6] Travel time from Tynda to Komsomolsk-on-Amur is 36 hours.[6] Travel time from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Sovetskaya Gavan is 13 hours.[6]

There are ten tunnels along the BAM railway, totaling 30 kilometres (19 miles) of route. They include:[7]

• Baikalsky tunnel 6,685 metres (4.154 mi)[8]
• Severomuysky Tunnel 15,343 metres (9.534 mi)
• Kodar Tunnell 1,981 metres (1.231 mi)
• Dusse Alin Tunnel 1,852 metres (1.151 mi)
• Korshunovsky tunnel 950 metres (3,120 ft)

These are among the longest tunnels in Russia.

In addition, the route crosses 11 full-flowing rivers (including the Lena, Amur, Zeya, Vitim, Olyokma, Selemdzha and Bureya).[7] In total, 2230 large and small bridges were built on it.

Baikal Amur Mainline extension
Baikal Amur Mainline to Tynda to Khabarovsk Komsomolsk-on-Amur Khurmuli-Vostochnaya Guga to Nikolaevsk-on-Amur Tugur Komsomolsk diversion line to Postyshevo Chumikan Ayan Aldoma Kekra Ulya Okhotsk Inya Balagannoye Arman Amur-Yakutsk Mainline to Yakutsk Magadan Takhtoyamsk Evensk Gizhiga Manily Kamenskoye Oklan Slautnoye Berozovo Tambatney Anadyr Egvekinot Bering Strait Russia USA border Koyukuk Ruby Manley Hot Springs Fairbanks USA Canada border Fort Nelson to Vancouver and Seattle Edmonton Winnipeg ← to Toronto to Hudson Bay → Armstrong Grant Hearst Smooth Rock Falls Matapedia Moncton Halifax

Selikhino– Nakhodka line
Baikal Amur Mainline to Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Selikhino Imbo to Sovetskaya Gavan Maysky-Zapadnaya Innokentyevsky to Khabarovsk and Vyazemskaya Grossevichi Nelma Peretychikha Amgu Terney Dalnegorsk Kavalerovo Chuguevka Sergeevka to Partizansk and Ussurysk Nakhodka Tikhookeanskaya Mys Astafieva

A major improvement was the opening of the 15.34-kilometre (9.53 mi) Severomuysky Tunnel on 5 December 2003. It is up to 1.5 kilometres (nearly 1 mile) deep. Construction took 27 years to complete. Prior to this, the corresponding route segment was 54 km (34 mi) long, with heavy slopes necessitating the use of auxiliary bank engine locomotives.

With the resources boom of recent years and improving economic conditions in Russia, use of the line is increasing. Plans exist for the development of mining areas such as Udokanskoye and Chineyskoye near Novaya Chara, as well as one of Eurasia's largest coal deposits at Elginskoye (Elga) in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). In connection with this, a number of branch lines have been built or are under construction.

In January 2012 the Russian mining company Mechel completed the construction of the 320-kilometre-long branch line to Elginskoye, branching from the BAM station Ulak, west of the Zeya River crossing in northwestern Amur Oblast.[13][14] The branch line connects the Elginskoye coal mine to the Russian railroad network.

Currently under discussion is the construction of a bridge or tunnel under the Strait of Tartary to Sakhalin Island, with the possibility of the further construction of a bridge or tunnel from Sakhalin to Japan. A tunnel from the mainland to Sakhalin was previously begun under Joseph Stalin, but was abandoned after his death. A second attempt in 2003 was also postponed during construction. Current economic conditions make the short-term completion of the tunnel doubtful, although Russian president Dmitry Medvedev announced in November 2008 his support for a revival of this project.[15]

The BAM now also attracts the interest of Western railway enthusiasts, with some tourist activity on the line.[4]

Also, the BAM itself extension from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Magadan (Okhotsk coastal route), full length electrification, full length track doubling, and double-stacking under the overhead wires on the Russian gauge tracks (with well cars to make 6.15m height) are proposed.

Tayshet diversion line (Tayshet bypass)	Severo-Sibirskaya Mainline	Lena-Kamchatka Mainline
Tayshet diversion line Trans-Siberian Railway to Krasnoyarsk Yurty Trans-Siberian Railway to Tayshet Staly Akulshet Trans-Siberian Railway to Tayshet Kostomarovo Trans-Siberian Railway to Lena and Severobaykalsk	Severo–Sibirskaya Mainline to Svecha & Vologda Kirov Zuevka to Yar & Balyezino Trans-Siberian Railway to Yar Stalnaya Lesnaya Polyana Kirs Verkhnekamskaya to Lesnaya, Krutoborka & Ukhta Batalovo Pushya Tuprunka Seyva Bondyug Krasnovishersk Vels Trans-Ural Tunnel to Serov Ivdel to Polunochnoe & Labytnangi Priobe Komsomolsky Kamennoe Khanty-Mansysk to Tyumen via Tobolsk Surgut to Novy Urengoy Nizhnevartovsk Aleksandrovskoe Kolpashevo Bely Yar to Lesosibirsk & Ust-Ilimsk Asino to Tomsk & Tayga Yagodnoe Kolyon Belogorodka to Yurga & Novosibirsk Mariinsk Achinsk to Lesosibirsk & Dudinka Krasnoyarsk to Lena & Severobaykalsk Ust–Ilimsk branch to Surgut via Nizhnevartovsk Kolpashevo Bely Yar to Mariinsk via Asino Kataiga to Dudinka Eniseisk Lesosibirsk to Achinsk Novoangarsk Pinchga to Reshoty via Karabula Yarki Boguchany Kodinsk to Vikhorevka via Novochunka Ust-Ilimsk Nachalny to Bratsk Karstovaya to Severobaikalsk Novochunka branch to Lesosibirsk via Yarki Kodinsk to Ust-Ilimsk Chervyanka Nevanka Bunbui to Krasnoyarsk Novochunka to Vikhorevka & Bratsk Reshoty-Yarki Line to Krasnoyarsk to Yurty & Tayshet Reshoty II Pokanaevka Shelaevo Novobiryusinskaya Garevoi Novokhaiskaya Karabula to Lesosibirsk Yarki to Kodinsk & Severobaikalsk	Lena-Kamchatka Mainline to Bratsk Lena Lena-Vostochnaya to Severobaikalsk Nepa Lensk to Aldan & Tommot Nizhny Bestyakh to Magadan

Major stations of the BAM

Tynda, the "capital" of BAM

Tayshet to Lake Baikal 1,064 kilometres (661 mi):[4]

Lake Baikal to Tynda 1,300 kilometres (810 mi):

Tynda to Komsomolsk 1,473 kilometres (915 mi):

Komsomolsk to Sovetskaya Gavan 486 kilometres (302 mi):

This section was completed by prisoners during World War II, except for the 19-kilometre (12 mi) section east of Komsomolsk which was completed in 1974.

In April 2008 the state-owned Bamtonnelstroy corporation started work on the new 3.91-kilometre (2.43 mi) single-track Kuznetsovsky Tunnel to bypass an older tunnel built in 1943–1945.[16] It was opened in December 2012. The old tunnel had difficult gradients; building the new tunnel relieved a bottleneck on the BAM.[17] The 59.8 bn roubles (about $1.93 bn) project included 20 kilometres (12 mi) of new track. In 2010, Yakunin had said, the stretch between Komsomolsk and Sovetskaya Gavan was the weakest link on the BAM, which, he said, could be carrying 100 million tons of freight a year in 2050.[18]

Running approximately alongside the railway track is the BAM road, a railway service track. It is said to be in a very poor state, with collapsed bridges, dangerous river crossings, severe potholes and "unrelenting energy-sapping bogs". The narrow, dilapidated Vitim River Bridge (aka Kuandinsky Bridge)[19] that crosses the Vitim river has attracted attention since its first appearance on social media in 2009.[20] The road is passable only by the most extreme off-road vehicles and adventure motorcycles. In 2009, a group of three experienced motorcycle riders took a whole month to travel from Komsomolsk (in the east) to Lake Baikal.[21][22]

Main belt asteroid 2031 BAM, discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh, is named in honor of the builders of the BAM.[23]

• 
  Railway station at Tynda
• 
  Railway station at Vikhorevka
• 
  Railway station at Fevralsk
• 
  Old station building at Tayshet
• 
  Railway troops on the construction of BAM-2. July 2022

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baikal Amur Mainline.

• Baikal-Amur Mainline travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Construction history of the BAM
• Private homepage about the BAM (section in English)
• BAM: Soviet construction project of a century
• BAM Guide on Trailblazer Publications website
• NYTimes 2012 travel feature
• The Baikal Amur Mainline is a popular adventure motorcycle travel route