The Tsarskoye Selo Railway was the first public railway line in the Russian Empire. It ran for 27 km (17 mi) from Saint Petersburg to Pavlovsk through the nearby (4 km) Tsarskoye Selo. Construction began in May 1836, and the first test trips were carried out the same year between Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk, using horse-drawn trains. The line was officially opened on 30 October 1837, when an 8-carriage train was hauled by a steam locomotive between Saint Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo. Until the construction of the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway in 1851, it was the only passenger train line in Russia. In 1899 it was merged into the Moscow-Windau-Rybinsk Railways and now forms part of the Oktyabrskaya Railway.

Pavlovsk is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District in the suburban part of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south from St. Petersburg proper and about 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) southeast from Pushkin. Population: 16,087 (2010 Russian census). Known since the late 18th century, when Saint Petersburg was the capital of Russian Empire, as a countryside residence of Russian royal family commissioned creation of the town's landmark -palace with a large park, now parts of its federal museum reserve.