November 13: The first "people's" train from St. Petersburg to Moscow
At 11:15 from Petersburg в Moscow The first "people's" passenger train departed. Rail transport in Russia became accessible to all segments of the population.
First flight: 192 passengers and ticket prices
In the morning, a large crowd gathered in front of the station, filling the spacious vestibule. In one section, they recorded the types of passengers, in another, they sold tickets, and in a third, passengers' luggage was received. After receiving their tickets, passengers enter the spacious vestibule, where they wait for departure.
(Northern Bee newspaper)
Before this, there were only two railways in the Russian Empire, both single-track ones - between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo (27 km) and between Warsaw и Vienna (328 km).
The first “all-people’s” train of 6 cars traveled 645 km in 21 hours and 45 minutes; it arrived in Moscow the following morning.
192 passengers set out on the journey. Merchants and nobles traveled in first class, costing 19 rubles and sitting on soft sofas. Officers, officials, and mid-level merchants traveled in second class, costing 13 rubles and sitting on less comfortable seats. Townspeople, artisans, small traders, and clerks traveled in third class, costing 7 rubles and sitting on wooden benches.
It was several times cheaper than a stagecoach ride (which cost almost 100 rubles and took up to 5 days).
Travel amenities: no restaurant or heating
There were no dining cars, restrooms, or heating on the train. At major stations, there were station refreshments and "outhouses," which were endured during the journey. The first toilets appeared in train cars in 1863, speeding up travel by reducing stops.
Because of the risk of fires underfoot, first-class passengers (and second-class passengers for an extra fee) had metal hot-water bottles filled with hot sand or boiling water instead of regular stoves; these were provided at stations. Third-class carriages were unheated. Lighting was provided by candles in special enclosed lanterns.
Nicholas I traveled along the road in the summer of 1851
Nicholas I Nicholas I, his family, and his retinue had traveled this route earlier, in the summer of 1851. Naturally, in greater comfort. During the journey, Nicholas I used a new device of the time—an electromagnetic telegraph—to receive dispatches from St. Petersburg.
An incident at the station and controversy over the project
An incident occurred along the way: the stationmaster at one of the stations ordered the tracks painted white with oil paint for the Tsar's passage. The wheels began to slip and skid, preventing them from pulling the heavy train up the hill. The gendarmes and track workers had to literally run ahead of the locomotive and sprinkle sand on the tracks.
Nicholas was pleased with the road. It was his brainchild—he began construction despite the opposition of his ministers.
I had to fight prejudices and people, but when I myself was convinced that the work was useful and necessary, then nothing could stop me.
Some ministers feared coachman revolts and the increasing spread of revolutionary ideas from Europe. Other reasons for mistrust of the project included deforestation (the first steam locomotives ran on wood) and rumors that the high speed (around 30–40 km/h) would cause passengers "brain diseases" and mental retardation.
Nikolai was adamant:
I decided to go against the majority opinion.
(at a committee meeting, 1842)
Officials and merchants asked him to make a detour to bring the road to Novgorod, but the emperor refused, and it turned out to be almost a straight line.
The road should be built in a straight direction; I don’t see any valid reason to lead it to Novgorod, which will not be deprived of the benefits it enjoys.
Road construction and track gauge
The railway was built by serfs under extremely difficult conditions. Unlike the Tsarskoye Selo railway, it was double-tracked. For the first time, a 1524-millimeter gauge was used (in Europe, it was 1435 millimeters): the different track widths compared to other European countries was an advantage, even in the event of war.
When it opened, the road was named the St. Petersburg-Moscow Railway. In 1855, it was renamed the Nikolaevskaya Railway, and in 1923, the Oktyabrskaya Railway.
One criticism that was made of St. Petersburg was that it was at the end of Russia and far from the center of the Empire: now this will disappear
Nikolai was right—the project more than paid for itself: construction costs amounted to 67 million rubles, and net income for the first half century, according to some sources, exceeded 506 million rubles.