Railroad Day

Railroad Day was first established by order of the Minister of Railways of the Russian Empire, Prince Mikhail Khilkov No. 68 of June 28 (July 10 in a new style ) in 1896 .

Sovereign Emperor, in commemoration of the birthday of Emperor Nicholas I, whose sovereign will laid the foundation for the construction and operation of railways in Russia, according to our most comprehensive report, on June 28 of this year, the Highest commanded: to establish the annual celebration of the anniversary of Emperor Nicholas I by all central and local institutions in charge of Railways in Russia. Such a High Will has been announced by the Ministry of Railways.

- Minister of Railways Prince M. Khilkov.

The new holiday was the first professional holiday of railway employees not only in the Russian Empire, but also in Europe ^[1] . The date of the annual celebration of the Day of the Railwayman by all central and local institutions in charge of the railways in Russia was associated with the birthday of Emperor Nicholas I , June 25 ( July 6 ). Nicholas I is considered the founder of railway business in Russia: with him, the first walking railway to Tsarskoye Selo and the first all-Russian highway from St. Petersburg to Moscow were built .

On this day, the central and local railway institutions did not work, and in the evening a dinner was organized with a concert in the hall of the Pavlovsky railway station of the Tsarskoye Selo railway . At large stations and train stations, thank-you services were held. Particularly solemn was the celebration on the Fontanka embankment near house No. 117, where the Russian Ministry of Railways was then located. Not only the highest ranks of the Ministry of Railways came here for the celebration, but also representatives of the railway departments of the Ministry of Finance and the State Audit Office, who worked closely with the Ministry of Railways. Railroad Day was regularly celebrated until June 25, 1917 .

After the October Socialist Revolution , all the royal holidays were canceled, including the Day of the Railway Worker ^[2] . The tradition of celebrating the Day of the Railway Worker was resumed only in 1936 , in connection with the proposal made by the railway workers “... about the Day of the Railway Worker as the day of maximum labor efforts for the glory of the Motherland ...” during a meeting of railway workers in Moscow on July 25-30, 1935 . After the meeting during the reception of railway workers in the Kremlin, the Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.) Joseph Stalin personally thanked the comrades for the achievements:

Allow me to propose a toast to your successes, which are undeniable and for which you have earned real comradely praise. Allow me to proclaim a toast for those achievements that you still don’t have, but which you must have, for all of you, from the switchman to the People’s Commissar, to do everything necessary and raise the transport, which is already uphill, but still swaying, for so that the transport is clearly working, functioning properly, accurate, like a good clockwork, conveyor! For all of you and for your Commissar, comrades!

According to the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of July 28, 1936, it was decided to hold the holiday annually on July 30, signed by the chairman of the presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR Mikhail Kalinin ^[3] .

To satisfy the request of the workers and employees of Stalin, Donetsk, October, Leninskaya, named after L. M. Kaganovich and other railways to establish annually on the anniversary of the reception of railway workers by the leaders of the party and government of the USSR on July 30 - the All-Union Day of Railway Transport of the Soviet Union.

This day was chosen because on July 30, 1935, Stalin received a delegation of railway workers, and he began to be celebrated as the All-Union Stalin Railway Day ^[4] .

On July 29, 1936, an emergency issue of the “Gudok” newspaper was issued, which began with a decree of the USSR government “On Celebrating the Day of Railway Transport of the Soviet Union”. The day of railway transport of the Soviet Union was declared a national holiday, its first celebration was organized as soon as possible throughout the country.

A few years later by decreeSNK of the USSR of July 9, 1940, it was decided to "postpone the celebration of the All-Union Railway Day in 1940 to the nearest day off (Sunday) - August 4. In the future, to establish the celebration of the All-Union Day of the railwayman on the first day off (Sunday) of the month of August. ”

Since the 1980s, the professional holiday of railway workers has again become known as the “Day of the Railway Worker”.

Since 2003, Railways Day in Russia was transferred to the category of corporate holidays of Russian Railways .

• Azerbaijan marks the Day of Workers of the Azerbaijani Railway on October 13 .
• In Belarus, the Day of the Railway Worker ( Belorussian. Zen Chygunachnik ), approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko dated July 15, 1995 No. 276 “On the Establishment of the Holiday - Day of the Railway Worker", is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of August ^[5] .
  The date of this holiday is connected with the tsarist-Soviet tradition of the Railway Day, namely, the beginning of the construction and development of railways in the Russian Empire , as well as the emergence of a new profession - the railway worker.
  Although the first city with rail traffic on the territory of modern Belarus in December 1862 was Grodno as a station of the Petersburg-Warsaw Railway ^[6] , the official birthday of the Belarusian Railway is considered November 1871 , when its main highway Smolensk – Orsha – Minsk came into operation - Brest .
• In Kazakhstan, on the first Sunday of August, the Day of Transport and Telecommunication Workers ( Kaz. Kulik zhne bailanys Kyzmetkerler kuni ), established by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 13, 2001 No. 267-II on holidays in the Republic of Kazakhstan, is celebrated in Kazakhstan.
• In Kyrgyzstan , Railroad Day was established by Decree of the Government of the Republic No. 578 of August 3, 1994 and is celebrated on the first Sunday of August. The purpose of the holiday was to preserve and develop professional traditions, taking into account the appeal of the workers of the Kyrgyz Railway Administration in honor of the 70th anniversary of the opening of railway traffic in the republic. On August 8, 1924, the first train in Kyrgyzstan passed through the Lugovaya- Pishpek section, from which the development of railway transport in the republic began.
• In Latvia , Railway Day, most likely Day of Railway Workers ( Latvian. Dzelzceļnieku diena ), is celebrated annually on August 5 to perpetuate the founding date of the Latvian railway on August 5, 1919 ^[7] . On this day in 1919, after the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia, the General Directorate of Railways, which led the Latvian State Railways, began work.
• In Lithuania , Railway Day ( lit. Geležinkelininko dieną ) is celebrated annually on August 28. Around this day in 1860, construction work on the Dinaburg - Vilnius section of the Petersburg-Warsaw Railway was completed . The first steam train arrived by rail from Dinaburg (now Daugavpils) to the Vilnius railway station on September 4 (16), 1860 ^[8] .
  • In addition to the Day of the Railway Worker, Lithuania also celebrates another memorable day in the history of the Lithuanian Railways. In early July 1919, the military leadership of the German railways transferred the first sections and stations to Lithuania, and on July 6, 1919, the first Lithuanian train arrived from Kaisiadorys to Radviliškis . This date is the Independence Day of the Lithuanian Railways ^[9] .
• In Uzbekistan, by presidential decree, the first Sunday of August, starting in 2017, was declared the Day of Railway Workers of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
• In Ukraine, the holiday Day of the Railway Worker ( Ukrainian: Day of the Clinic ) was established and celebrated on November 4 ^[10] .
  After Ukraine withdrew from the USSR in 1993, the then leadership of Ukrainian Railways left the tsarist-Soviet tradition of Railway Day and made relevant proposals to the president. The holiday was established “in support of the initiative of the workers of the railway transport of Ukraine” according to the Decree of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk “On the Day of the Railway Worker” ( Ukrainian Pro Day of Clinic ) dated July 15, 1993 No. 257/93-rp and was celebrated on the first Sunday of August.
  After the appointment of Georgy Kirpa, Director General of Ukrzaliznitsі, to the President of Ukraine, a proposal was made to celebrate Railway Day on November 4 . According to the Decree of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma of December 11, 2002 No. 1140/2002 "On Amending the Decree of the President of Ukraine of July 15, 1993 No. 257" Day of the railwayman is celebrated annually on November 4. On November 4, 1861 , the first passenger train arrived from Vienna through Krakow and Przemysl to the Lviv railway station , located on the territory of the Austrian Empire . This day is considered the beginning of the history of railways in Ukraine.
• In Estonia , Railroad History Day ( Estonian Raudtee ajaloo päev ) is annually celebrated on August 21 in Estonia , commemorating the arrival of the first train from Tallinn to Tartu on August 21, 1876 .

• In Bulgaria, the Day of the Railway Worker ( Bulgarian. Den for the Railway Worker ) as a professional holiday is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of August. The choice of this date is related to the historical events of the opening of the Tsaribrod - Sofia - Belovo railway line in early August 1888 , as well as the fact that the Bulgarian state bought the Rousse - Varna line , which is considered the creation of the Bulgarian state railways .
• In Hungary , Railway Day ( Hungarian Vasutas nap ) by the decision of the Government of Hungary from 1961 is celebrated annually on the second Sunday of July.
• In modern Germany, there is no officially designated Railway Day as a professional holiday for railway workers.
  During the existence of the Third Reich, by decree of December 7, 1943, the then Reich Minister of Education and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels , German Railway Workers Day ( German Tag des deutschen Eisenbahners ) was established in recognition of the extraordinary merits of German railway workers in the war.
  In the GDR, the Day of the Railway Worker and Transport Worker was celebrated on the second Sunday of June in the form of ceremonial meetings, speeches of the party apparatus and the awarding of honored railway workers with orders.
  Currently, it is customary to organize for passengers advertising events of rail transport of local and regional nature, the so-called open house days. In the eastern lands of Germany such days are organized annually on the second Sunday of June, in the western lands of Germany - on the first weekend of September.
• In Poland, the Festival of the Railway Worker ( Polish Święto Kolejarza ) is celebrated annually on November 25, the day of remembrance of the Christian Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria , the patroness of Polish railway workers.
  The celebration of the Celebration of the Railway Worker’s Day in Poland is inextricably linked to the All-Polish pilgrimage of railway workers to Yasnaya Gora to Czestochowa , which has been held since 1984 .
• In former Czechoslovakia , Czechoslovak Railway Day ( Czech Den československých železničářů ) was first established on August 18, 1954 on the occasion of the first national conference of railway workers in Prague Castle . Czechoslovak Railway Day was celebrated annually on August 18 until 1963 . Later, in order not to interfere with the preparation for the operation of railways in the winter, the date of the holiday was moved to 23, and then to September 27 ^[11] .
  • In Slovakia, the Day of Railway Workers ( Slovak. Deň železničiarov ) is celebrated annually on September 27, on the opening day in 1840 of the horse railway from Bratislava to Sveta Jur . This line was the first public railway, not only in Slovakia, but throughout the former Austro-Hungarian kingdom .
  • In the Czech Republic, Railway Day ( Czech Den železnice ) is celebrated annually, usually on the fourth Saturday of September, in memory of September 27, 1825 , when the first steam engine of George Stephenson set off on his first journey, connecting the British cities of Stockton and Darlington ^[12] .
    On this occasion, railroad events are held throughout the country throughout September (for example, parades of steam locomotives and historical rolling stock, races of railcars, exhibitions of railway models, bicycle raids of railway workers, etc.).
• In the former Yugoslavia, the Day of the Railway Worker ( Serbhorv . Dan Zheznichar ) was celebrated annually on April 15 in honor of the general strike of railway workers in April 1920 , in which more than 50,000 workers took part. On the night of April 15-16, 1920, Yugoslav railway workers went on strike in solidarity with other trade unions and completely stopped railway traffic in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia . The strike, caused by adverse working conditions and low wages of railway workers, lasted 14 days and was suppressed in the blood. Pressure on strikers led police to open fire on April 24 in Ljubljana and kill 14 railroad workers, and 70 workers were injured.
  • In Bosnia and Herzegovina , Railroad Day ( Bosnian Dan željezničara ) is celebrated annually on April 15, in memory of the general strike of the Yugoslav railroad workers in April 1920.
  • In Serbia, the Day of the Railway Worker ( Serbian Dan Danzheznichar ) since 2001 is celebrated annually on May 12, the day of the patron saint of St. Basil of Ostrog . May 12, 1992 is the date of the initiative to form the Serbian Railways .
  • In Slovenia, according to the Amendments of 12/28/1996 to the Law on Public Holidays and Days of the Republic of Slovenia, Railwaymen Day ( Slovenian. Dan železničarjev ) is celebrated annually on June 2 in memory of the arrival of the first train to the territory of today's Slovenia in 1846 ^[13] . The first passenger train arrived at the Cele station on June 2, 1846 from Graz .
  • In Croatia , starting in 1990, every October 5th, when the Croatian Railways withdrew from the Yugoslavian Railways and were accepted as an independent company into the International Union of Railways , Croatian Railways Day is celebrated ( Croatian Dan Hrvatskih željeznica ).
    In addition, the Croatian calendar celebrates International Railway Day on April 15 ( Croatian Međunarodni dan željezničara ), in memory of the general strike of the Yugoslav railway workers in April 1920.

• Railway Day
• Railway transport in Russia
• Russian Railways

• Rail transport: Encyclopedia / Ch. ed. N. S. Konarev . - M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia , 1994 .-- 559 p. - ISBN 5-85270-115-7 .