Creating legal base for private railway companies’ activities in Russia between 1855 and 1865

In the middle of the 1850s, the Russian government realized a need to create a developed railway network in the country. The government had to choose the models for the railway construction - to build them at private joint-stock companies’ expense, to build them only with resources from the state treasury, or to allow the existence of both categories at the same time. To solve this problem a special committee headed by Lieutenant General E. I. Herstfeld was established in 1855. The Committee analyzed the experience in the sphere of the construction and legal regulation of private railways in foreign countries and drafted a detailed Russian railway legislation project, including the conditions for establishing the first private companies in Russia. The author analyzes the main provisions for this project and compares them with the operating conditions of private railway companies implemented in practice in the 1860s. The conclusion is made about the degree of influence of the project developed by the Committee on the Russian railway legislation in the 1860s and the 1870s. This article is based on archival sources introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.