Departing From Moscow

  • Anna Konstantinovna is the director of the Museum of the History of the Moscow Institute of Transportation Engineers. The museum is housed in the school where engineers were trained to build the bridges and other structures necessary for the Trans-Siberian Railway. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • At the Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal in downtown Moscow, passengers rush past the "0" kilometer mark signifying the start of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The world's longest rail line -- and one of the most famous -- stretches more than 9,000 kilometers (nearly 6,000 miles) and spans seven time zones, snaking its way across Russia through the country's major cities and ending at Vladivostok, Russia's Asian port on the Pacific Ocean. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • The schedule board at Yaroslavsky station lists the departure times and platform numbers of trains outbound from Moscow. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • Tamara Ostrovskaya (left) and her sister-in-law, Albina Ostrovskaya, stand on the platform at Yaroslavsky station. Tamara is embarking on a three-day trip to Krasnoyarsk, in central Siberia. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • Passengers walk along the platform at Yaroslavsky terminal, the jumping-off point for most Trans-Siberian journeys and one of Moscow's nine train stations. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • Most people aboard the Trans-Siberian are Russians traveling to visit family members scattered across this huge country. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • In a place where air travel is too expensive for most, a multiday journey aboard the train is just part of life for many Russians. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • Buildings give way to trees as trains pull out of Moscow's Yaroslavsky station and head east into the vast forests. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • A man walks along iced-over train tracks along the Trans-Siberian railroad. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • A woman waits for a local train at a small station along the Trans-Siberian railroad. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • Zhanna Rutskaya (left) and Sergei Yovlev share food on the train, which is traveling to the Russian city of Yaroslavl, about four hours northeast of Moscow. (David Gilkey/NPR)
  • Yovlev, who works for the railroad, stands outside his train compartment during the trip to Yaroslavl, his hometown. (David Gilkey/NPR)