Simferopol railway station

Legend

km from Moscow Near-Dnipro Railways (PZD) to Novooleksiivka 1,342 Syvash Ukraine (Kherson Oblast) Crimea 1,352 Solone Ozero 1,361 1361 km 1,362 Mamut 1,367 1367 km 1,370 1370 km to Armiansk 1,372 Dzhankoi to Feodosia and Kerch 1,379 1379 km 1,384 Vidradna 1,389 1389 km 1,393 1393 km 1,396 Urozhaina 1,404 1404 km 1,409 Krasnopartyzanska 1,415 Yefremivska 1,423 Elevatorna 1,426 1426 km 1,432 1432 km 1,434 Proliotna 1,442 1442 km to Yevpatoria 1,444 Ostriakove 1,450 1450 km 1,452 1452 km 1,454 Simferopol-Vantazhnyi 1,457 1457 km 1,463 Simferopol 1,470 Chystenka 1,473 1473 km 1,479 1479 km 1,482 Poshtova 1,486 1486 km 1,489 Samokhvalove 1,495 Bakhchysarai 1,501 1501 km 1,503 Syren Crimea Sevastopol 1,509 1509 km 1,512 Verkhniosadova 1,518 1518 km 1,522 Mekenziievi Hory Inzhenerna Balka 1,529 1529 km 1,531 1531 km 1,533 Inkerman-1 1,540 Sevastopol 2 Inkerman-2 8 Sapunhirskyi 5 Zolota Balka 21 Sevastopol-Vantazhnyi 27 Komyshova Bukhta

Location

Simferopol-Pasazhirsky (Ukrainian: Станція Сімферополь-Пасажирський, Russian: Станция Симферополь-Пассажирский,) is a railway station in Simferopol, Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine, but de facto occupied by Russia.^[4] The station building, designed by a Soviet-Russian architect Alexey Dushkin in 1951 and renovated in 2000, is one of the most recognizable buildings of Simferopol (Aqmescit).

History

Russian Empire

The lack of a railway in Crimea greatly complicated the Crimean War. After the war, it hampered trade and the development of the economy of Crimea and neighbouring regions.

In the summer of 1871, construction began on the 615-kilometre Lozova–Sevastopol railway. Low-paid jobs in the severe conditions of winter and summer provoked a struggle for basic rights. Some workers went on strike; the largest strike occurred in May 1873 on the Simferopol–Sevastopol segment of the railway.^[5]

Construction near Simferopol started in 1872. The original route for the Lozova–Sevastopol railway would have passed about 32 kilometres west of Simferopol. But industrialists and merchants there, aware of the benefits a railway would bring to the city, pushed successfully for the route to be revised. Officials and landowners in Simferopol provided free land for the station and locomotive depot.

The first section of the railway — Lozova–(Zaporizhzhya) Aleksandrovsk, with a branch in (Dnipro) Ekaterinoslav — was commissioned on 15 November 1873. The second, (Zaporizhzhya) Aleksandrovsk–Melitopol, opened on 23 July 1874. On 1 June 1874, the first freight train arrived at the Simferopol station. And on 14 October 1874, the 367-kilometre Melitopol–Simferopol segment opened, and the first passenger train arrived at the station. The 116-kilometre Simferopol–Sevastopol segment was built in 1875. On 5 January, the full Lozova–Simferopol line began operations.

In 1909, freight trains brought almost 11 million pounds of cargo to Simferopol. The development of industry in Crimea demanded the import of oil, coal, iron, steel, sheet metal, rail, scaffolding, and stone. Exports from Crimea consisted mainly of agricultural products: fruits, vegetables, tobacco, wine, and lime.

Occupation by the Nazis

From 1916 to 1944, the Simferopol station was operated by a group of Soviet soldiers under the leadership of Viktor Yefremov. Before the Second World War Yefremov was deputy head of the station. During the war, Nazi occupiers killed his wife. He was offered a job with the Third Reich and then the position of "Russian chief of station".

Instead, Yefremov organized a clandestine group of station workers. They committed 17 acts of sabotage, including blowing up nine trains carrying ammunition and two carrying fuel. Under various pretexts, they delayed the repair of rolling stock, contaminated equipment, and passed on intelligence on the quantity and movement of goods, equipment, and troops.

In early March 1944, the Nazis arrested Yefremov and other members of his team. One member, A. A. Breyer, not wanting to surrender to the Nazis, threw himself under a train.

In 1972, a memorial plaque was installed at the station with bas-reliefs of Yefremov and his band: Breyer, V. Lavrinenko, I. Levitsky, and N. Y. Sokolov. The monument was made by sculptors V. V. Petrenko and N. I. Petrenko.^[5]

Ukraine

In 1991, the station was part of Cisdnieper Railways a subdivision of Ukrainian Railways. Long-distance trains provide connections to every major Ukrainian city of Kyiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih and Odesa. They also had international connections with Russia, and Belarus.

Under "de facto" control by Russian Federation

On 18 March 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea, Ukrainian authorities stopped all the rail connections to Mainland Ukraine, and as the result, fewer trains served the Simferopol station. The station became operated by Crimea Railway as part of the Russian government.^[6] On 25 December 2019, the passenger train to Moscow was resumed via a new route, following the opening ceremony of Crimean Bridge.^[7] However, Cisdnieper Railway still claims to be part of it.^[3]

Destinations

Major destinations

Federal subject	Destinations	Operator(s)	Ref.
Crimea	Yevpatoria	Southern Suburban Passenger Company	[8][9]
	Solyonoye Ozero
	Urozhaynaya
	Dzhankoi
	Feodosia
Sevastopol	Sevastopol

Inter-connection to Mainland Russia

Train number	Train name	Destinations	Operator(s)	Ref.
27/28	Tavria 2-storey	Moscow	Russian Railways	[10]
75/76	Tavria	Omsk
95/96		Astrakhan
141/142		Perm
373/374		Smolensk

Gallery

• 
  Platforms of the station.
• 
  Main building.
• 
  Platform 1.
• 
  Clock Tower.
• 
  Exit to platform 1.
• 
  Italian garden.
• 
  View of the station from Platform 1.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simferopol Railway Station.

44°57′42″N 34°04′56″E / 44.9616°N 34.0823°E / 44.9616; 34.0823