Exhibitions: "Crimean Railways" exposition to open at the Museum of Bridges in Saint-Petersburg

On December 23, 2020, the Museum of Bridges (a branch of the Central Museum of Russian Railway Transport, Saint-Petersburg) launched a new exposition entitled "Crimean Railways". It spotlights the history of the infrastructure development of the Crimean peninsula. The exposition opening marks an important date. A year ago, on December 23, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin operated a diesel train from Kerch to Taman along the Crimean Bridge railway section. Thus, the head of state launched traffic on a new railway line through the Kerch Strait.

The collection of the Central Museum of Russian Railway Transport features unique documents and photographs that reveal the formation and development of the Southern Railways. It also includes information about the railway engineers who designed, surveyed and constructed the Crimean Railways. Most of them were graduates of the Institute of Railway Engineers Corps. Among them were outstanding engineers - builders of the Crimean railways - N. P. Mezheninov, G. M. Budagov, N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky, M. N. Annenkov.

Recently, the unique collection of the Museum of Bridges got new acquisitions. The Directorate of the Federal Automobile Roads "Taman" donated to the museum models of the Crimean Bridge. Its fairway arches and coastal parts arrived in Saint-Petersburg from the Krasnodar Territory.

The Federal Road Transport Agency (Rosavtodor) presented to the Museum of Bridges documentaries about the construction of the Crimean Bridge, which provides today sustained transport communication of the peninsula and other Russian regions.

It is reputed that the Crimean bridge originates from Saint-Petersburg. The design of the longest bridge in Russia and Europe (19 kilometres) was made in Saint-Petersburg by the specialists of the Giprostroymost Institute.

On December 23, 2019, the train "Tavria" opened a regular railway connection between Crimea and other Russian regions departing from Saint-Petersburg to Sevastopol.