Belarus
Silikat87 / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · cropped
Belarus is a landlocked country of 207,600 square kilometres in Eastern Europe with a population of about 9.1 million. Russia lies to the east and north-east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west and Lithuania and Latvia to the north-west. Minsk is the capital and largest city, administered separately from the six regions that make up the rest of the country. The land is low and flat — a plain of forest, lakes and, in the south, the Pripet Marshes — the largest wetland area in Europe. The climate is hemiboreal, with long cold winters.
Rail travel here is a single state undertaking. Belarusian Railway is vertically integrated — it manages the infrastructure and runs the freight and passenger trains — and has a near-monopoly on train travel in the country. The gauge is 1,520 mm Russian broad gauge, so through running east is straightforward and westward crossings into Poland and Lithuania involve a change of gauge. The main stations are Minsk-Passazhirsky, Brest-Tsentralny, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno and Mogilev, and the operator sells seats through its own online portal, priced in four currencies.
Rail journeys in Belarus
Good to know
Why is Brest important to the railway?
Because it is where the gauge changes. Brest, on the Polish frontier, is the point at which Russian broad gauge meets European standard gauge, and every passenger train running to or from Poland has its bogies replaced there before it can continue; freight is transloaded from wagons of one gauge to wagons of the other. It is one of the great break-of-gauge points of Europe.
Is the railway's website in English?
No, despite appearances. Both rw.by and the passenger portal offer an /en address, and both serve the Russian site behind it — the passenger portal returns a 404 page with the full Russian booking form rendered inside it. Anyone booking should expect to work in Russian.
What are the Pripet marshes?
The largest wetland area in Europe, spread along the Pripyat across southern Belarus and into Ukraine. Thousands of birds nest and winter there, drawn from as far as Scandinavia, the Baltic and Russia. The marshes have shaped Belarusian settlement, farming and warfare for centuries, and they are why the roads and railways of the south run round rather than across a great deal of ground.
Are there rail passes for Belarus?
No. Belarus is not among the countries whose railways the Interrail Pass covers. Tickets are bought for the individual train through Belarusian Railway's own portal, which quotes prices in Belarusian roubles, Russian roubles, euros and US dollars.