Belarus - General Information

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Country Name

Belarus (officially The Republic of Belarus) (Беларусь)

National railway system

  • Belarusian: BČ - Belaruskaja Čyhunka / БЧ - Беларуская Чыгунка
  • Russian: BŽD - Belorusskaja Železnaja Doroga / БЖД - Белорусская Железная Дорога

Official Website

Belarusian Railway

Language

Since a referendum in 1995, the country has had two official languages: Belarusian and Russian. However, all station names are exclusively in Belarusian, apart from a few large stations which are bilingual - Russian or Łacinka, Belarusian rendered in the Latin alphabet.

Currency

Belarusian ruble (BYR).

UIC code

numeric 21; alpha BLR.

Timetable

Journey Planner

Train timetable

Downloadable Timetable

None.

Printed Timetable

None.

Engineering Information

None.

Maps

Printed Maps

Web-based Maps

Ticketing

There are no known network tickets, but fares are cheap.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

There does not appear to be an Infrastructure Authority although BČ has a Track Facilities Department and an Electricity Supply Department.

Network Statement

None known

Gauge

"Russian" gauge (1520mm)

Electrification

25kV 50Hz, except for the cross-border Brest - Terespol and Grodno - Kuźnica Białostocka lines to Poland, which are 3 kV DC.

Rule of the road

Right.

Distances

No known source.

Other railways

None.

Tourist lines

The narrow gauge K.S. Zaslonov Children's Railway is located in Chelyuskinites Park in Minsk.

Metro

Minsk.

A metro track map is available at Popov Metro maps captioned in Russian.

Trams

Minsk, Mazyr/Mozyr, Novopolotsk, Vicebsk [Russian: Vitebsk].

Recent and future changes

Electrification of the 72km line from Molodechno to Kena in Lithuania was completed in Autumn 2017 with freight operations commencing from 6 September 2017 and a through electric passenger service on 10 December 2017.

The new 'Strizh' Moskva - Berlin Talgo service started operation on 17 December 2016. It uses a new Talgo gauge-changer at Brest station, which has reduced considerably the time taken to change gauge.

Electric Services between Minsk and Homel commenced on 17 June 2016. The scheme allegedly also included the branch off it from Zhlobin to Kalinkavichy so information if this is also completed would be appreciated by the Compilers.

A cross-border service between Grodno/Гродна and Kuźnica Białostocka (Poland) was reinstated from 4 Sept 2016, with a Kraków <> Grodno portion of the Krakow <> Mockava (Lithuania) train. Local services were discontinued at the December 2015 timetable change as they were to be replaced by PKP IC services between Warszawa and Grodno, which never ran owing to funding issues.

One train each way between Grodno/Гродна and Vilnius at weekends only was reintroduced on 6 June 2015, reopening the Benjakonī/Беняконі - Stasylos (Lithuania) border crossing, but withdrawn after 8 November.

Special Notes

None.

See also