On December 6, 1895, old style, the first train arrived in Krasnoyarsk via the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was still under construction.
This day is celebrated as the birthday of the Krasnoyarsk station, and the event itself became the starting point for the large-scale development of the city and the Krasnoyarsk Territory – the second largest subject of the Russian Federation.
At first, the station received only freight trains, but a year later passenger trains also began running through it. In 1899, the legendary Tsarsky Bridge appeared in Krasnoyarsk – geographically it entered the boundaries of the station. To this day, the bridge across the Yenisei, erected on the site of this structure, is part of it.
At the beginning of the 20th century, its main objects were a beautiful stone station and railway workshops: until the 30s it was the largest industrial enterprise in Krasnoyarsk.
Thanks to the Trans-Siberian Railway, the city and the region received an impetus for industrialization, and by the middle XX century, the Krasnoyarsk station was transformed again.
Then the second station in its history opened for passengers, complete with an underground tunnel and a pedestrian bridge. In addition, a hump was built at the station to handle freight trains.
The Krasnoyarsk station acquired its modern appearance in the first decade of the 2000s, when its track infrastructure and platforms were updated, a new station appeared, twice as large in area, which became the decoration of the capital of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the sorting of freight trains was moved to the suburbs.
“Today the Krasnoyarsk station is a high-tech complex, where the most modern services for passengers are collected. Located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, the station is the gateway to the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Krasnoyarsk. This is the largest transport hub in the region with an annual passenger flow of more than 3 million people. In the future, another step in the development of the Krasnoyarsk station will be the launch of the Krasnoyarsk metro with access to the station square,” said Alexey Tumanin, head of the Krasnoyarsk Railway.
He noted that the renovation of the station, which is located in the city center and cannot be developed by expanding its area, occurs only with the introduction of new technologies for passenger service and traffic management.
Currently, Krasnoyarsk is the largest passenger station, receiving and sending the largest number of passenger trains to Krasnoyarsk Railways.
A locomotive and multiple unit depot and a terminal and logistics center of JSC Russian Railways operate on its territory.
According to the tradition that has developed in Krasnoyarsk, the day of arrival of the first train is considered to be December 6, although according to the new style the date falls on December 18.
A train of 20 cars led by the steam locomotive “Rusak” was heading to Krasnoyarsk from the Tomsk Taezhny station (its modern name is Taiga). In just a few days, he covered about 500 km along the newly built section of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The average speed of the train was only 4 km/hour. The movement was slowed down by the Siberian rivers, across which bridges had not yet been built, so ice crossings were built.
On that significant day, at the building of the first Krasnoyarsk station, decorated with green garlands and monograms of the Emperor and Empress, a train accompanied by the sounds of the anthem and shouts of “Hurray!” met by half the city's population.
And the date itself was not chosen by chance. It was the name day of Emperor Nicholas II. On December 6, 1895, the City Duma sent him a telegram with congratulations and a report on the opening of railway traffic through Krasnoyarsk.
