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Tynda () is a town in Amur Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Blagoveshchensk. It is an important railway junction, informally referred to as the capital of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. Its population has declined sharply in recent years:
In 1932, plans for what would eventually become the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) named Tynda as a possible future hub station. A long rail line, connecting Tynda with BAM station (known as Bamovskaya) near Skovorodino on the Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed between 1933 and 1937, although this was then dismantled during World War II and the rails reused for other projects closer to the front. In 1941, Tynda was granted urban-type settlement status.
The revival of the construction of the BAM as an All-Union Komsomol Project in the early 1970s saw the reconstruction of the rail line between Bamovskaya and Tyndinsky, followed by the construction of the BAM east and west of the town. The settlement and its hub station were placed under the patronage of Komsomol brigades from Moscow, befitting its status as symbolic capital of the BAM. As its population grew due to the construction, the settlement was granted town status and received its present name on November 14, 1975.
The Amur Yakutsk Mainline (AYaM) also began construction from Tynda, with the section to Neryungri completed in 1977. Since 2019 the AYaM runs passenger services as far as Nizhny Bestyakh on the bank of the Lena River opposite Yakutsk.
The full extent of the BAM opened for full use in 1989, with the exception of the Severomuysky Tunnel. Tynda went into a decline after the BAM was completed, as the utilization of the mainline turned out to be low. Tynda's population has dropped by over 30% since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, from a high of 61,996 inhabitants recorded in the 1989 Soviet Census, to an estimated population of around 38,000 in 2008.
The Blagoveshchensk political observer Yevgeny Ogorodsky, on the eve of the elections, considered that:
After the announcement of the results of the elections for the mayor of the city, political scientist Yevgeny Trofimov commented on the victory of the "party of power":
In September 2018, Mayor Cherenkov lost the election to the candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Marina Mikhailova. Mikhailova was the runner-up to Cherenkov in the 2013 mayoral election, losing by about 14%. Mikhailova's win was dubbed "a real surprise" by the . Upon her inauguration as mayor, Mikhailova promised several notable changes. She promised a review of the town's budget, including cancelling special pension provisions for elected officials, which were often called "Golden parachute", as well as cutting the salary of the Deputy Chairman of the town Duma. Mikhailova also promised a more austere mayoral inauguration, stating plans to cut the theatrical performances, buffets, and banquets associated with the ceremony, and replacing it with a "working meeting with the townspeople". Other pledges made by Mikhailova included providing more lighting around the town's schools, cleaning up landfills, extending marshrutka services in the evening, and improving winter road services. Mikhailova's victory came amid a bump in Communist Party officials winning local elections in the Amur Oblast, including in Zavitinsk and in Bureysky District. Upon taking office, she made herself largely accessible to her constituents, who would often call her on her Mobile phone, as well as through her work phone.
In a 2020 interview with the Amurskaya Pravda, Mikhailova claimed she had made progress on several fronts. She said her administration was working to clear the backlog of applicants for municipal housing, reducing the number from 800 people on the waitlist down to about 200. She also said her administration rented out previously-vacant municipal buildings to tenants, and saved millions of Ruble on document printing costs.
Under Mikhailova, Tynda was awarded 250 million rubles to renovate Krasnaya Presnya Street, the main street in the town, and construction began in July 2021. Under the terms of the contract, the contractor agreed to complete the repairs by August 2024. At the same time, the contractor had to be paid money for the work done. However, in September, Mikhailova announced that the contractor hired by the town had done an inadequate job, and had nearly forgotten to make Storm drain and channels for utility wirings. The contractor, Karer-A ,suspended work in July 2022. In September, Mikhailova reported that Karer-A went Insolvency.
She voluntarily left the post of mayor of Tynda on 9 December 2022. Mikhailova explained that she departed due to her health. Later that month, a criminal case was opened into Mikhailova, alleging corruption regarding the renovation of Krasnaya Presnya Street. Prosecutors alleged that the contractor, Karer-A, was awarded 600 million rubles to reconstruct the street, but that Mikhailova improperly handled over 130 million rubles. The head of Karer-A was found guilty in December 2023, and was sentenced to seven years in prison, and a fine of 500,000 rubles. Mikhailova's First Deputy was also found guilty, and was handed a suspended sentence of four years and five months. Mikhailova was later also found guilty, and was initially handed a six year sentence in a penal colony, although this was reduced to four and a half years upon an appeal by Mikhailova. As of January 2025, Mikhailova maintains her innocence, and has filed another appeal to serve her remaining sentence through Penal labour, considered less harsh than the penal colony.
Other than railway-related activities, the town's economy relies largely on the timber industry, with the Tyndales corporation based here. The M56 motorway to Yakutsk also passes through the town.
The town is served by the Tynda Airport, located to the north. After being closed for a number of years, air services from Blagoveshchensk via Zeya resumed in 2007. Interrupted flight in the Amurskaya Pravda, August 25, 2007 (Russian)
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