Scenic route
Circum-Baikal Express
Irkutsk → Port Baikal · Russia
The Tsar’s ‘golden buckle’: 38 tunnels blasted into cliffs a step above Baikal’s water, once the Trans-Siberian’s costliest link, now a slow shoreline excursion.
How this line was checked
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 14 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Russian Railways — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Circum-Baikal Express?
The Circum-Baikal Express runs 215 km from Irkutsk to Port Baikal.
How long does the Circum-Baikal Express take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ≈ 9 h for the 215 km. That is an average of 24 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 40 km/h.
Who runs the Circum-Baikal Express?
RZD Travel, with retro excursion train.
How old is the Circum-Baikal Express?
The line has been in service since 1905. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
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