Transport Workers Day in Russia Date in the current year: November 20, 2024

Until recently, Russia had only specialized professional holidays for transport workers: Motor Transport Workers Day, Railroad Workers Day, Maritime and River Transport Workers Day, and Civil Aviation Day. There was no single professional holiday that could unite all Russian transport workers.

The situation changed in July 2020, when Prime Minister Mikhail Mushustin ordered to add Transport Workers Day to the official calendar of professional holidays. On August 10, Minister of Transport Yevgeny Dietrich signed a decree establishing Transport Workers Day. The first celebration was held on November 20, 2020.

The date of the holiday was chosen to commemorate the founding anniversary of the Office of Water and Land Communications that was established by Emperor Alexander I on November 20. 1809. It was the first unified government agency in the transport sector in Russia. Along with the Office, the emperor created the Transport Engineer Corps and the Transport Engineer Institute, today known as the Saint Petersburg State Transport University.

The Office of Water and Land Communications was subsequently transformed into the Ministry of Railways, which was replaced by the People’s Commissariat of Railways of the Soviet Union following the October Revolution. The Commissariat was succeeded by the Ministry of Railways of the Soviet Union and then by the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation. The Ministry was disestablished in 2004, and most of its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Transport.

The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation is responsible for the development of public policies and legal regulation in the transport sector, which includes railroads, commercial aviation, inland waterway transport, road transport, urban metro systems, and commercial transport vehicles.

The subordinate agencies of the Ministry of transport include the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport (“Rostransnadzor”), the Federal Air Transport Agency (“Rosaviatsiya”), the Federal Road Transport Agency (“Rosavtodor”), the Federal Railway Transport Agency (“Roszheldor”), and the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transportation (“Rosrechmorflot”).

According to the Ministry of Transport, more than 4 million people are employed in the country’s transport sector. All of them celebrate their professional holiday on November 20. The main tasks of Transport Workers Day are to unite Russian transport workers from all over the country and to boost their morale and motivation, as wall as to strengthen traditions and to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of the country’s transport sector.

Russia’s Transport Workers Day is marked by numerous professional events held across the country. Like most professional holidays in Russia, it is not a non-working day unless it falls on a Saturday or Sunday.