Киселев Игорь Павлович

This essay analyzes the development of railways in Russia primarily with regard to increase in train speed. The author covers the primary stages of scientific and engineering development in Russia and the Soviet Union with respect to infrastructure and train cars at the turn of the 20th century, in the 1930s, and after World War II. The analysis considers the needs and possibilities for organizing high-speed transport and provides reasons why the Soviet Union lagged behind in high-speed rail despite the generally high level of development of transportation technology and machinery.