MOTOR ROADS AND RAILROADS IN CENTRAL ASIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600050339-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2011
• Sequence Number: 339
• Publication Date: March 17, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/10: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600050339-1
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Motor. Roads and Railroads in Central, Asia
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRE
DATE (of
V. - - 111 -, ....
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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1 . The dec:ision as t where mct;u roads were to be built was strictly
centralized in 24r.scow. This was particularly true for "Gosudarstvenii"
(governmental) roads. It was also applicable for almost all railroads,
Moscow decided upon the location of roads and railroads for military-
political reasons. The Soviet Council of Ministers reached its decision
after receiving reports from the Defense Ministry, from the NKVD (charged
with road construction), and at times from other interested ministries.
Each road and railroad was definitely considered from the viewpoint of
possible military needs. Once decision for the general location for the
route was made in Moscow, a " roe " td, tailed plan) had to be made.
It was at this stage that the Military Construction Board 50X1- HUM
in the Central Asian Military District, would discuss with the appropriate
civilian authorities the question of most practical routes.
2. Motor roads (avto-guzhevii dorogi rg.d$1ta u 'thy automotive equipment
and by animals) were divided into, .V rcIAsves depending on the source
of funds for construction and for maintenance. The three classes
were :
a. Gosudaret,venii (Governmental - roads of significance for the whole
USSR).
b. Respublikanokii (Republican - roads of significance for a particular
Soviet Republic).
c. Mestnovo znacheniya (Roads of local significance).
LU
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3. An example of a motor road built for political reasons was the
Osh-Pamir .oad which ran from Osh to *bor,Og,Pamir is the area where
the borders of the USSR, India, China and Afghanistan meet, and this
road obviously could be considered to have political significance in
regard to India and Tibet. The road was improved during the period
1933-35. It was not passable for about five months of the year from
November to April. One could average only about 15 km per hour on
this road. It was of hard dirt, wo-way, and had turnoffs in some
spots.
4. the Sinkiang Trakt (road) utilizing the 4th battalion of
m nary-labor troops of the rear 0 ran from the railroad
stationof Ayaguz on the Turkestan-Sib..rian railroad to Bakhty
on the western frontier of Sinkiang. From there a road goes on to
Urumchi. The route for the Sinkiang Trakt was level. It was built
during the period 1931-34. It was surfaced with gravel throughout, was
nine meters wide (two-lane), all-weather, and 204 km long. At times
snow clearing machines were utilized. Labor troops, mentioned above,
were auxiliary forces called "Tilovoye Opolchenie" (resistance in the
rear). This type of troops existed from 1930 until 1936, when the new
Soviet constitution was promulgated. Many young persons who did not
have the rights of citizens, as children of "kulaks" for example and
who were considered unreliable for duty in the army, were drafted into
these labor troops for three years. They wore regular army uniforms but
without insignia. The units were staffed with officers who were normal
personnel, ie, not deprived of the rights of citizens.
5? In regard to motor roads under consideration and under construction,
these roads may best be discussed by breaking them down into their
classifications:
a. "Gosudaretvenii" -
The Frunze-Ooh road was to be a part of a route from Frunze via. Osh
to Khorog. It would have been useful. economically for the Kirgiz SSE.
It was considered to be under construction but it was a very difficult
and expensive project as the route led through a very mountainous
region. It was never completed except for a short stretch at each
end, ie. from Frunze tc Rybeche on Lake Issyk Kul and also to
Kochkorka, )nd from Osh to Djelalabad and approximately to the
FergansL Khrebet (range). The above work was stopped in approximately
1936 because of lack of funds.
b. "Respublikanakii" -
These roads were usually not discussed by military authorities as
normally they had only local economic significance. However it may
be, of interest to indicate several types of construction in the
Ferganski region in the Uzbek SSR. (1) In 1939 the "Bolshoi
Ferganaki Kanal" (the Great Ferganeki Canal) was built for irrigation
purposes. It was constructed in. about 30 or 35 " during the month
of August by about 50 thousand local peasants. It was designed
to distribite water evenly from the numerous wail rivers to aid in
cotton cultivation. Because of the nature of agricultural activities
in that area the peasants are free every'Auaust and normally use that
time to rest. Therefore the Soviet authorities felt that this was
a waste of manpower and utilized them to build the canal. (2) It was
planned in 1940 to construct the "Veliki Uzbekski Trakt" (the Great
Uzbekski Road) from Tashkent to Samarkand and to Terms. An unsurfaced
road from Samarkand to Termes had been built in Czarist tines. Also
a road from Tashkent to Samarkand had existed but had not been used
after the railroad was built along that route in 1907. :` September
1940 the authorities gathered 100 thousand, local inhabitants to
build the above planned road. Nothing was accomplished as all the
workers disappeared and went to their hove localities within one week.
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CONFIDENTIAL
-3-
Yet German maps during World War II indicated that this road
had been completed, and had bridges alon
its l
n
th.
g
g
e
This was incorrect:' (3) The Stalinabad-Khorog road was 320 km
in leng-th. It, among other things, was designed to provide a
transportation link for Stalinabad, the capita).of the Tadzhik SSR,
with one of its "oblasti"(regions) in the Pamyr area, called the
GornoBadakshanskaya,Oblast. The main town of this "oblast" was
1 oga place of only two thousand inhabitants, halt of whom
were soldiers stationed there. The road also had political
significance in regard to India. it was fi of shed t n l olii o' a ...e
partially paid for by funds from Moscow.
c. "Mestncvo Znacheniva"
These roads were of no interest to the military as they were short
in length, merely served the lccal. population, and were built by the
local inhabitants.
6. In regard t railroads, in 1929 the first five-year plan called for
construction of many new railroads. However, because of general
inefficiency, many of these routes were dropped as of 1931. Among
these were two lines which had been designed to lessen the load on
the main Aris-Tashkent-Ursatiavskaya line. One of the auxiliary lines was
to go north from Tashkent to Chimkent and the other?south from Tashkent
to the Me.lnikev railroad station east of Leninabad. These two auxiliary
lines were begun, only a few kilometers were completed, and the project
was dropped for the time being. Then "burl ugol" (brown coal) was
discovered in 1940 in the plain of the Angren river. This coal, although
not suitable for use by industry in manufacturing steel and other products,
was useful as fuel for heating and could be mined on the surface. Therefore
the line south of Tashkent was revived and was to be extended to Angren.
Back in 1930 about 10 km of this route south of Tashkent to the Chirchik
river had been finished. It had been used to transport sand and gravel
from the river. The Tashkent-Angren railroad line was finished in 1946
7. A railroad line from Kartaly '.n the Kazakh SSit was begun in 1939. Kartaly
is east of MagnitogorsK and the line was to run eastward to Admolinsx.
The line was completed in the fall of 1940 and was a broad-gauge, one
track road. It may now be double tracked. It is very significant for
four reasons: (a) h'concmic - to transport anthracite coal from
Karaganda to Magnitogorsk. (b) Transportation - to lessen the load on
the main Trans-Siberian railroad. (c) Food Supply - to bring out wheat
from the rich agricultural area along the new railroad line. (d) Military
and Transportation - to be part of a second railroad line running from the
European USSR to the Pacif'.c, ie, a second Trans-Siberian railroad. This
line was to run eastward from Magnitograk via Akmolinak-Barnaul-Kuznetak-
Aba:an-Taishet to Komsomolsik. at Taishet the line would turn north of
the original Trans-Siberian railroad. At present L95g this new
railroad line has progressed eastward only to Kuznetsk.
8. The Makat-Kandagach railroad was finished in 1940. It was broad gauge
and single track. During World War iI a railroad line from Landagach
to Ors_. was finished. The railroad was designed primarily to transport
ores from Orsk to the Caspian Sea. An oil pipeline was also constructed
parallel to the railroad from Guriev to Orsk.
9. A narrow gauge, single tract: railroad was built from Yangi Bazaar
(the last railroad stat'.on east of Stalinabad, 23 'an from that city)
southeast to Kuliab. It was designed to transport cotton and to aid
in constructing the rotor road from Stalinabad to Khorok, which was
completed. This railroad was built with funds of the Tadjik. SSR.
10. In regard to the Tashkent-Stalinabad hith w.
Ithe portion
~ iusu rmitnng tarough the high mountain ranges was not usable
from October until the end of April because of heavy snowfalls and
because the road had been built without utilizing tunnels.
CiT1AL
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11. Motor roads in all of the UM mere nosmslly built by one of two
or
anizatio
s
g
n
: (a) fl3 (Straitelstno Chanaasia lch
Dorog - Highway Construction Aiai^tratie ). this,wrwnii
t o_
a
YD. It constructed the ? . ~ hsfl~Co t cti
Oosad~retnaii" hidhra~ys: ~sa`,'oowtration
Mas coded th
'
s
roads were turned over to (b) D (pogo
ran portnoye Opravleais,- Ri4h Sraohpostation A4einistrstioa
of a oviet Rap
blL
"o
"`
1
u
c or
&t
yr 1
xnd-. *hi rema were. used = der
the
jurisdiction of D Q. which ran
a
i
"
an organis
t
on which utilised
or exploited" roads. It could also build toads_
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