From the history of the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering

The Moscow State University of Railway Engineering is one of the oldest higher educational institutions in our country. Its activities were closely connected with the development of railway transport. Its history dates back to 1896 when on the command of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II the Moscow Engineering school was founded.

In August 1896, the first 204 young men who were going to become railway specialists took entrance exami­nations. Only 60 of them passed the exams successfully and became students.

In the early days of its existence the Moscow Engi­neering School and its hostel were situated on the upper floors of a building in Tverskaya Street, in the centre of Moscow. The ground floor of that building was occupied by Eliseev's food store so well-known in Moscow. In 1898, a special building for the School was con­structed in Bakhmetievskaya Street later renamed after Academician V.N. Obrastsov.

The course of theoretical study at the Engineering School lasted three years. Then the theoretical course was followed by two-year practical training on the construction sites.

Prominent Russian scientists delivered lectures to the students at the Moscow Engineering School. Among them, for example, Academician V. N. Obrastsov who is famous as an outstanding teacher and scientist in the field of railway design and construction, Academician E.O. Paton who is well-known for his scientific papers on bridge build­ing and welding, professor N E. Zhukovsky, a great Russian scientist who delivered lectures on hydromechanics at the School for a long time. Later, V.I. Lenin called him the father of the Russian aviation.

Some graduates from the Moscow Engineering School became well-known scientists. Academician I.G. Alexandrov was one of the first graduates from the Moscow Engineering School. He worked in the field of railway electrification and was a member of the GOELRO Commission. It was I.G. Alexandrov who designed the Dneproges.

In 1913 for great achievements in training railway specialists the Moscow Engineering School was turned into the Moscow Railway Transport Institute. It changed its names several times (in 1924, 1931, 1933, 1993) and gained its status of the University in 1993.

Questions to the text:

1 Who initiated the foundation of the Moscow Engineering school?

2 Where was the Moscow Engineering school situated in its early days?

3 What was the course of study like?

4 What famous names are connected with the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering?

5 When did the University get its status?

The History of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering

34 years ago the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers was built due to the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, according to the order of the Transport Ministry of the USSR on July 18, 1975. The great construction that gathered representatives of all the republics of the vast country – the USSR – needed qualified staff.

Undoubtedly, the establishment of a higher educational institution is not an easy task. The issue of railway staff training arose simultaneously with the Trans-Siberian Mainline construction. The Trans-Siberian Mainline reached Irkutsk in 1903, and in some years a school for railway workers was founded. In the mid-1930s the higher education institutes appeared in Irkutsk, which specialized in railway staff training. These were branches of the Khabarovsk and the Novosibirsk Universities of Railway Transport Engineers.

In other words, the prehistory of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering took shape in staff teamwork, which solved questions of staff training with higher technical education. That's why it is considered that the history of the University's foundation and development started from the exploitation of the Trans-Siberian Mainline, which celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 2005.

In the first year there were only two departments at the Institute of the Railway Transport Engineers and the number of students was about 500, but after the establishment of 4 new departments in 1981 the number of students reached 5000.

The Institute was expanding, and in 2000 it gained the official status of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering. This fact means the recognition of its scientific development's level and complexity of resolved tasks.

Over 30 years of practice more than 15,000 specialists graduated from the University with higher vocational education.

Almost 80 percent of the engineering corps at East-Siberian railway are ISURE graduates. Among them there are prominent leaders of the railway and transport industry, businessmen and politicians.

Questions to the text:

1 What was the reason for the establishment of the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering?

2 What developments of the educational system did the Trans-Siberian Mainline construction entail?

3 When was the construction of the most important Siberian mainlines started?

4 What was the Irkutsk State University of Railway Engineering like in its early days?

5 What is the main sphere of professional activity of the University graduates?

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