The longest-serving Soviet minister, who led the railways for 29 years
In the late 1930s, reviewing a young engineer's proposal to cut train assembly times, Lazar Kaganovich wrote: 'We should help develop Comrade Beshchev's talent and research instincts.'
The first professional railway engineer to become Soviet Minister of Railways, he held the post for 28 years and 7 months (1948–1977), the longest continuous tenure of any Soviet minister. He directed postwar reconstruction, raising freight turnover 45% above prewar levels by 1950, then drove the historic transition from steam to diesel and electric traction that cut railway operating costs by nearly a third. Under his leadership, freight turnover grew eightfold, 23,500 km of new main lines were laid, and the existing 56 railways were consolidated into 26 major trunk lines. He also restarted survey and design work for the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) and pioneered computerized traffic control and high-speed rail experiments in the USSR.
Career Timeline
- 1935Graduated Leningrad Institute of Railway Transport Engineers; senior engineer, Khovrino station, Moscow
- 1937–1940Head, Ordzhonikidze Railway
- 1940–1941Head, Oktyabrskaya Railway
- 1941–1942Special commissioner, NKPS; organized military supply and civilian evacuation, Leningrad Front
- 1942–1944Head, Kuybyshev Railway
- 1944–1946Deputy People's Commissar, Head of Movement Directorate, NKPS
- 1946–1948First Deputy Minister of Railways
- 1948–1977Minister of Railways of the USSR (28 years, 7 months)