About: Connecting Line

The Connecting Line (Russian: Соединительная ветвь) is a historical railway line in the southern part of Saint Petersburg, Russia, that may be considered as initial element in the process of forming the whole Russia's railway networking system. It was constructed in 1853 and started operation in 1854. Before that, forming Russian railways consisted only of several separate lines connecting few major cities. Decades later, in the 1st half of the 20th century, the line was merged with later-built neighboring Putilovskaya Line (Путиловская ветвь), also known as the Port Line (Портовая ветвь), and was prolonged to the city's northern territories finally forming so-called Northern Semi-Ring (Северное полукольцо) and the consequent massive Saint Petersburg railway hub.