Baikal-Amur is shown in green, Trans-Siberian shown in red
The BAM splits from Trans-Siberian Railway at Tayshet, some 700 km. west of Baikal lake, and passes the Baikal from the north at Severobaikalsk. It then goes parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway all the way to the Pacific Ocean. You can expect great landscapes, admirable views of Baikal lake and a lot of high bridges and tunnels.
The railway was built primarily for military reasons as a backup to the Trans-Siberian, which runs quite close to the Chinese border. The first stage, from 1930 to 1953, was built largely by Gulag prisoners, including German and Japanese prisoners of war, and an estimated 150,000 people died in the process. Work halted due to Stalin's death, but started again in 1974 as a Komsomol project, this time "with clean hands only" (in Brezhnev's words). The line was officially completed in 1984, although actual work continued until 1991.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Baikal-Amur Mainline
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Baikal-Amur Mainline - updated May 2024
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Baikal-Amur Mainline Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
