Railway troops: war on rails

Railway Troops - a specialized genustroops, which is a structural part of the Ground Forces and is intended for the construction, restoration and covering of railway communications in a real combat situation. In any war the value of this kind of troops is difficult to overestimate. After all, railways are the blood vessels of war. With the help of railway transport, the troops are redeployed, reserves, weapons and military equipment, ammunition and food are brought to the front line. It is from the functioning of this type of transport that the success of major military campaigns and full-scale wars largely depends.

The railway troops of the Russian Federationhistory are inextricably linked with the history of the state itself. The contribution of servicemen of this kind of troops to strengthening defense power and developing the infrastructure of Russia's railway transport is truly enormous. The railway troops took part in all armed conflicts and large wars that fell to the country's share.

The most important role was played by military railwaymen inyears of the Second World War. Almost from the first day of the war, the Railway Troops carried out tasks to protect the communication routes from the raids of German aviation and to ensure their uninterrupted operation. And after the start of the global counter-offensive, our troops immediately began to restore the destroyed infrastructure.

In total for the military period, the railway troopsrestored and built about 120 thousand kilometers of main, peripheral and station routes, more than 15 thousand facilities, which made it possible to provide unprecedented in the history of wars the volumes of military transportations, which amounted to about 20 million carriages. Sappers of this kind of troops during the same period rendered harmless more than 2 million mines and unexploded air bombs. The glorious deeds of the military railwaymen greatly brought the hour of the Great Victory.

Today the railway troops of the Russian Federation are engaged intechnical covering, restoration, demining, fencing of sections and objects of railway infrastructure, and also solve a number of other equally important tasks. Particularly important is the mission of railroad soldiers in the aspect of activating terrorism on the territory of Russia, including railroad transport.

In modern conditions, this type of army performsnot only military-tactical tasks, but also civil missions of extraordinary importance for the national economy of the country. This military railroad is assisted by the most modern special-purpose equipment. For example, lifting-straightening and straightening machines, flat lifting frame-screw bearings and many other specialized mechanisms.

Technical capabilities, mobility andthe autonomy of the units of the railway troops were vividly demonstrated during the implementation of the humanitarian mission in the Abkhazian republic. Terrestrial technical reconnaissance revealed the catastrophic condition of one of the sections of the railway, which is of fundamental importance for the economy of Abkhazia. In record time, the military railway workers recovered a message on the Veseloye-Ochamchira 50-kilometer section. Timely repair of roads not only revived the economy of a young independent republic, but also ensured the safe movement of military echelons during an operation to compel Georgia to sign a peace treaty.