For heads of state around the world private aircraft are a common model transport. But for Russian president Vladimir Putin, he also has a private armoured train, and a network of private railway stations.
The train
Putin’s armoured train was assembled in 2014-2015, but his usage of the train took off from August 2021, shortly before Russian troops commenced their ‘special operation’ into Ukraine.
Novo-Ogaryovo
Novo-Ogaryovo is the country home of the President of Russia, located 30 km west of the city of Moscow. Completed in the 1950s as the “state dacha”, it was officially recognised as a presidential residence in 2000, with Putin using it as a permanent workplace from 2012. In 2014 a private railway station was located 400 metres away from the residence, at the end of a short branch line from Usovo station.
The railway station is surrounded by a tall steel wall.
With gates preventing access into the compound.
Bocharov Ruchey
Bocharov Ruchey (Бочаров Ручей) is the summer residence of the President of Russia, located in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, completed in 1955. In 2017 a private railway station opened on a short siding off the main line.
Dolgiye Borody
Dolgiye Borody is a residence of the President of the Russia, located about 400 km north-west of Moscow. Construction started for Stalin in 1934, with the complex being expanded in the 1980s. A private railway siding was extended to the complex in 2019, ending at a railway station with helipad.
Footnote: Правительственный вокзал (Government Station)
Правительственный вокзал (Government Station) is a private railway platform located just north of Kalanchyovskaya station in Moscow. The station was built in 1974 for the use of trains transporting the leaders of the USSR.
Further reading
- This article is more than 1 month old Russian defector sheds light on Putin paranoia and his secret train network, The Guardian
- A railroad fan photographed Putin’s armored train. Now he lives in exile, Washington Post
- Putin travels to his residences on secret railway lines on an armored train, ГОРДОН (Ukrainian language)
- How the secret train of Putin and Medvedev works, Komsomolskaya Pravda (Russian language)
- Vladimir Putin got on an armored train, Dossier Center (Russian language)