50 years since the start of BAM construction

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends,

I would like to congratulate you on an important and impressive anniversary - the construction of the unique transport route, the legendary Baikal-Amur Railway, started half a century ago.

This project was historically conditioned for our country. The first proposals on transport development of the Trans-Baikal and Amur regions were made in the 19^th century. The geography of the future grandiose construction site was studied in the early 20^th century and the course was even marked out. Some sections were laid before the Great Patriotic War and in post-war years.

A full-scale construction of the railway was launched in April 1974. It was then that the BAM was declared a top priority constructions project at the 17^th Komsomol (Young Communist League) Congress, and the first team of volunteers was formed.

This event and the very idea, clearly steeped with the romanticism of creation and enthusiasm of the young, inspired practically the whole country. As we remember, people wrote poems and sang songs. "Listen, the time is humming: it is the BAM." These and other lines of the then popular songs reflected the feelings of hundreds of thousands of people. They left homes to build this legendary railway, having chosen the destiny of trailblazers.

I will repeat that the BAM had really become a national, all-Union project. Teams from hundreds of plants and factories, research centres and design bureaus from all Soviet republics had taken its facilities under patronage.

About two million people were involved in this project. For many of them, the construction of the BAM and later working there became their life-work, the apotheosis of their dreams, work, courage, the calling of many generations of families and, of course, a real feat without any exaggeration.

Working in impassable swamps, taiga, on the rocks and in permafrost conditions, our builders were laying kilometres of steel tracks, resolving incredibly challenging problems, and implementing entirely new constructive, engineering and technical solutions.

There are participants in the BAM construction present here. These people carried out one of the world's biggest infrastructure projects of the entire 20^th century. They laid a transport artery that was vital for the country.

To be continued.

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