A Japanese D51 steam locomotive outside the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway stationJapanese Government Railways map of Hokkaido, Chosen, Karafuto, and Manchukuo
On the Japanese half of the island, a 42.5-kilometre-long (26.4 mi) railway was built from Korsakov (大泊 (Ōtomari)) to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (豊原 (Toyohara)), with a gauge of 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in). This section was later converted to the normal Japanese railway gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).
In 1911, a 64 km (40 mi) branch was built from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Starodubskoye (Sakaehama). Between 1918 and 1921, the towns of Nevelsk (本斗 (Honto)), Kholmsk (真岡 (Maoka)), Chekhov (野田 (Noda)) and Tomari (泊居 (Tomarioru)) were also connected to the network. The Japanese railway network consisted of the Western Karafuto Railway from Naihoro (Gornozavodsk) to Tomarioru, and the Eastern Karafuto Railways from Otomari to Koton (Pobedino) until 1944. Its total length was over 1,225 km (761 mi).
After the Second World War, control of the whole of the island passed to the Soviet Union, including the island's complete rail network and rolling stock. Wagons from the Soviet railways were re-gauged for use on the island. The locomotive factory in Lyudinovo produced diesel locomotives of the models TG16 and TG21 specifically for use on the island's narrow gauge network. Additionally, trains were imported from Japan, such as the purpose-made A1 sets made by Hitachi Rail and Teikoku Sharyo (1958-1960), followed by the D2 sets made by Fuji Heavy Industries (1986) and ex-JNRKiHa 58 railcars, purchased second hand in the early 1990s.
The Soviet era saw the network extend into the north of the island, with a total extent in 1992 of 2,500 km (1,600 mi). By 2006, little-used sections such as Dachnoye–Aniva and Dolinsk–Starodubskoye had been closed, but the network still had a total length of 2,025 km (1,258 mi).
In 1992, the Sakhalin Railway was split from the Far Eastern Railway and made its own administrative entity. It reverted to being part of the Far Eastern Railway in 2010.[1]
The new track 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) / 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)Contemporary era of railway after re-gauge, DMU RA3-026 in Korsakov (2022)
In order to allow regular Russian trains to run on the island, the island's rail network underwent conversion to Russian broad gauge[2] starting from 2003. Russian Railways formally completed the regauging work in August 2019.[3] Last scheduled train on 1067mm line Holmsk-77km pk9 was run at 30 September 2020.[4]
There have been some calls from politicians to revive the concept of building a bridge or tunnel between Sakhalin and the mainland, although there have been concerns that the costs of the project would outweigh the benefits.[5] However, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev announced his support for the project in November 2008, suggesting the link could be completed by 2030, with bridge rather than a tunnel, and far more northerly route.[6] In February 2013, the Russian government announced plans to build the link, including it in the 2012–2015 federal transport plan. It would connect the Sakhalin Railway to the Baikal–Amur Mainline at Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The link, estimated at 21 billion rubles, would require about 925 km (575 mi) of new construction on the mainland, a 16 km (9.9 mi) bridge across the northernmost part of the Strait of Nevelskoy, and an additional 320 km (200 mi) of new track to connect the line to the existing network.[7]
There have also been proposals to connect the southern tip of Sakhalin to the Japanese island of Hokkaido via a 40-kilometre-long (25 mi) bridge or tunnel. This link would allow a direct land transport link for container traffic from Japan to the Asian mainland and Europe.[8][9]
