Moscow Yaroslavskaya: Path to the Far East

A 1903 photograph of the Yaroslavsky station in Moscow. The station serves as the origin of the Trans-Siberian railroad.

Yaroslavsky station is Moscow's busiest railway station, with trains not only carrying Russians from the suburbs into Moscow, but also to the farthest extents of Russia possible.

Yaroslavsky station was built in 1862 on Komsomolskaya Square next to Leningradsky station (1). The original railway route from the station ended at the nearby Russian city of Yaroslavl, but quickly the railway began to extend much further East. Yaroslavsky serves as the Western terminus of of the Trans-Siberian Railway, one of the world's longest continuous railways in the world. The journey across Siberia from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan is almost 5800 miles and construction of the railway took place from 1891-1904 (2).

A Siberian-Express train that was used on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

A more recent photograph of Yaroslavsky before the Russian Revolution shows major additions from the 1862 structure.

The opening of the Trans-Siberian Railroad connected Russia's vast expanse in a way that was unbelievable at the time. Though the journey took eight days to complete, Russia's Far East territories were now within reach of Moscow and Petersburg, despite being a continent away. The railroad began Russia's inquisition into gaining more territory in the East (2), a prospect that previously seemed unrealistic given distance. Prior to the Trans-Siberian Railway and Yaroslavsky station, Russia's major international skirmishes were focused on the Western hemisphere. The construction of this route completely changed the country's international presence. In fact, a major fraction of all hostility and conflict from the Soviets and Russians in the 20th and 21st century was focused on China and Japan (3,4), as Russia attempted to cement its role in the Far East and expand its borders.

Yaroslavsky station, as the terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, serves as the fountainhead of Russian influence in the Asia. The tsars were finally able to fully hold influence across their continental empire and were looking to the future for potential border expansion in Asia. Vladivostok stood as a Russian island within Asia, but when the railway from Yaroslavsky connected the city to Moscow, Russia's presence in Asia became much more of a reality. The tsars show their imperial tendencies via the Trans-Siberian Railway and Yaroslavsky station, and Moscow served as the perfect connection between European Russia and Asian Russia.