Editing Trans-Siberian Railway (section)

==History==

===Demand and design===
In the late 19th century, the development of Siberia was hampered by poor transport links within the region and with the rest of the country. Aside from the [[Siberian Route|Great Siberian Route]], roads suitable for wheeled transport were rare. For about five months of the year, rivers were the main means of transport. During winter, cargo and passengers traveled by horse-drawn sledges over the [[winter road]]s, many of which were the same rivers but frozen.<ref>P. E. Garbutt, "The Trans-Siberian Railway." ''Journal of Transport History'' 4 (1954): 238–249.</ref>

The first steamboat on the [[Ob River|River Ob]], Nikita Myasnikov's ''Osnova'', was launched in 1844. However, early innovation had proven to be difficult, and it was not until 1857 that steamboat shipping had begun major development on the Ob system. Steamboats began operation on the [[Yenisei]] in 1863, and on the [[Lena River|Lena]] and [[Amur River|Amur]] in the 1870s. While the comparative flatness of [[West Siberian Plain|Western Siberia]] was served by good river systems, the major river systems [[Ob River|Ob]]–[[Irtysh]]–[[Tobol]]–[[Chulym River (Ob River)|Chulym]] of [[East Siberian economic region|Eastern Siberia]] had difficulties. The Yenisei, the upper course of the [[Angara River]] below [[Bratsk]] which was not easily navigable because of the rapids, and the Lena, were mostly navigable only in the north–south direction, making west–east transportation difficult. An attempt to partially remedy the situation by building the [[Ob–Yenisei Canal]] had not yielded great success. These issues in the region created the need for a railway to be constructed.<ref name="britannica" />

The first railway projects in Siberia emerged after the completion of the [[Saint Petersburg–Moscow Railway]] in 1851.<ref name="problemregions">{{Cite book |title=Problem Regions of Resource Type: Economical Integration of European North-East, Ural and Siberia |publisher=IEIE |year=2002 |isbn=5-89665-060-4 |editor-last=Alexeev |editor-first=V.V. |editor-last2=Bandman |editor-first2=M.K. |editor-last3=Kuleshov–Novosibirsk |editor-first3=V. V.}}</ref> One of the first was the [[Irkutsk]]–[[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]] project, proposed by the American entrepreneur [[Perry Collins]] and supported by Transport Minister [[Constantine Possiet]] with a view toward connecting Moscow to the [[Amur River]], and consequently the Pacific Ocean. Siberia's governor, [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky]], was anxious to advance [[Russian imperialism#Russian colonial expansion|Russian colonization]] of the now [[Russian Far East]], but his plans were unfeasible due to colonists importing grain and food from China and Korea.<ref>{{Cite book |last=March |first=G. Patrick |title=Eastern Destiny: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific |publisher=Praeger/Greenwood |year=1996 |isbn=0-275-95648-2 |pages=152–53}}</ref> It was on Muravyov's initiative that surveys for a railway in the [[Khabarovsk]] region were conducted.

Before 1880, the central government had virtually ignored these projects, due to weaknesses in Siberian enterprises, an inefficient bureaucracy, and financial risk. By 1880, there was a large number of rejected and upcoming applications for permission to construct railways in order to connect Siberia with the Pacific, but not Eastern Russia. This worried the government and made connecting Siberia with Central Russia a pressing concern. The design process lasted 10 years. Along with the actual route constructed, alternative projects were proposed:
* Southern route: via [[Kazakhstan]], [[Barnaul]], [[Abakan]] and Mongolia.
* Northern route: via [[Tyumen]], [[Tobolsk]], [[Tomsk]], [[Yeniseysk]] and the modern [[Baikal Amur Mainline]] or even through [[Yakutsk]].

The line was divided into seven sections, most or all of which was simultaneously worked on by 62,000 workers. With financial support provided by leading European financier, [[Baron Henri Hottinguer]] of the Parisian bankers [[Hottinger & Cie]], the total cost estimated at £35 million was raised with the first section (Chelyabinsk to the River Ob) and finished at a cost of £900,000 lower than anticipated.<ref>"The Great Siberian Iron Road", ''The Daily News'' (London), 30 December 1896, p. 7.</ref> Railwaymen argued against suggestions to save funds, such as installing ferryboats instead of bridges over the rivers until traffic increased.

Unlike the rejected private projects that intended to connect the existing cities that required transport, the Trans-Siberian did not have such a priority. Thus, to save money and avoid clashes with land owners, it was decided to lay the railway outside the existing cities. However, due to the swampy banks of the Ob River near [[Tomsk]] (the largest settlement at the time), the idea to construct a bridge was rejected.

The railway was laid {{convert|70|km|0|abbr=on}} to the south (instead crossing the Ob at Novonikolaevsk, later renamed [[Novosibirsk]]); a dead-end branch line connected with Tomsk, depriving the city of the prospective transit railway traffic and trade.<ref name="britannica" />

===Construction===

[[File:Clearing on the right-of-way of the Eastern Siberian Railway, A LCCN2004708023 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Clearing on the right-of-way of the Eastern Siberian Railway, 1895]]
[[File:Construction work on the Eastern Siberian Railway near Khabarovsk LCCN2004708079.jpg|thumb|right|Construction work being performed by convicts on the Eastern Siberian Railway near [[Khabarovsk]], 1895]]

On 9 March 1891, the Russian government issued an [[imperial rescript]] in which it announced its intention to construct a railway across Siberia.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Clarence B. |url=https://www.questia.com/read/71900198/railway-imperialism |title=Railway Imperialism |last2=Wilburn |first2=Kenneth E. Jr |last3=Robinson |first3=Ronald E. |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0313259661 |location=Westport, Connecticut |page=140 |chapter=Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Chinese Eastern Railway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406164345/https://www.questia.com/read/71900198/railway-imperialism |archive-date=2020-04-06 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II) inaugurated the construction of the railway in Vladivostok on 19 May that year.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pleshakov |first=Constantine |url=https://www.questia.com/read/100959210/the-tsar-s-last-armada-the-epic-journey-to-the-battle |title=The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima |publisher=Basic Books |year=2002 |isbn=0465057926 |location=New York |page=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603130123/https://www.questia.com/read/100959210/the-tsar-s-last-armada-the-epic-journey-to-the-battle |archive-date=2019-06-03 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Lake Baikal is more than {{convert|640|km|abbr=off|sp=us}} long and more than {{convert|1600|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} deep. Until the [[Circum-Baikal Railway]] was built the line ended on either side of the lake. The [[Icebreaker|ice-breaking]] [[train ferry]] {{SS|Baikal}} built in 1897 and smaller ferry ''SS Angara'' built in about 1900 made the four-hour crossing to link the two railheads.<ref name="BaikalTravel">{{Cite web|title=Irkutsk: Ice-Breaker "Angara" |url=http://www.lakebaikaltravel.com/baikal-travel-guide/landmarks-baikal/83-irkutsk-ice-breaker-angara.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924190950/http://www.lakebaikaltravel.com/baikal-travel-guide/landmarks-baikal/83-irkutsk-ice-breaker-angara.html |archive-date=24 September 2011 |access-date=15 September 2011 |website=Lake Baikal Travel Company }}</ref><ref name="BaikalHomepage">{{Cite web |last=Babanine |first=Fedor |year=2003 |title=Circumbaikal Railway |url=http://www.irkutsk.org/baikal/railway.htm |access-date=15 September 2011 |website=Lake Baikal Homepage |publisher=Fedor Babanine}}</ref>

The Russian admiral and explorer [[Stepan Makarov]] (1849–1904) designed ''Baikal'' and ''Angara'' but they were built in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], by [[Armstrong Whitworth]]. They were "knock down" vessels; that is, each ship was bolted together in the United Kingdom, every part of the ship was marked with a number, the ship was disassembled into many hundreds of parts and transported in kit form to [[Listvyanka, Irkutsky District, Irkutsk Oblast|Listvyanka]] where a shipyard was built especially to reassemble them.<ref name=BaikalHomepage/> Their boilers, engines and some other components were built in [[Saint Petersburg]]<ref name=BaikalHomepage/> and transported to Listvyanka to be installed. ''Baikal'' had 15 boilers, four funnels, and was {{convert|64|m|sp=us}} long. it could carry 24 railway coaches and one locomotive on the middle deck. ''Angara'' was smaller, with two funnels.<ref name=BaikalTravel/><ref name=BaikalHomepage/>

Completion of the Circum-Baikal Railway in 1904 bypassed the ferries, but from time to time the Circum-Baikal Railway suffered from derailments or rockfalls so both ships were held in reserve until 1916. ''Baikal'' was burnt out and destroyed in the [[Russian Civil War]]<ref name=BaikalTravel/><ref name=BaikalHomepage/> but ''Angara'' survives. It has been restored and is permanently moored at Irkutsk where it serves as an office and a museum.<ref name=BaikalTravel/>

In winter, sleighs were used to move passengers and cargo from one side of the lake to the other until the completion of the Lake Baikal spur along the southern edge of the lake. With the Amur River Line north of the Chinese border being completed in 1916, there was a continuous railway from [[Petrograd]] to Vladivostok that, to this day, is the world's second longest railway line. Electrification of the line, begun in 1929 and completed in 2002, allowed a doubling of train weights to {{convert|6000|t|sp=us}}. There were expectations upon electrification that it would increase rail traffic on the line by 40 percent.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 December 2002 |title=Russia's legendary Trans-Siberian railroad line completely electrified |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-70603200.html |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904061530/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-70603200.html |archive-date=4 September 2015 |via=[[HighBeam Research]]}}</ref>

The entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway was double track by 1939.<ref>{{cite book |last=Manley |first=Deborah |author-link= |date=2011 |title=The Trans-Siberian Railway: A Traveller's Anthology |url= |location= |publisher=Andrews UK Limited |page=xviii |isbn=}}</ref>

===Effects===
[[File:Siberian peasants watching a train at a station, (1902).jpg|thumb|Siberian peasants watching a train at a station, 1902]]

Siberian agriculture began to send cheap grain westwards beginning around 1869.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} Agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of [[serfdom]], which was [[Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|formally abolished]] in 1861. To defend the central territory and prevent possible social destabilization, the Tsarist government introduced the [[Chelyabinsk]] [[tariff]]-break ({{lang|ru|Челябинский тарифный перелом}}) in 1896, a tariff barrier for grain passing through Chelyabinsk, and a similar barrier in [[Manchuria]]. This measure changed the nature of export: mills emerged to produce bread from grain in [[Altai Krai]], [[Novosibirsk]] and [[Tomsk]], and many farms switched to [[Maize|corn]] (maize) production.

The railway immediately filled to capacity with local traffic, mostly wheat. From 1896 until 1913 Siberia exported on average {{convert|501932|t|sp=us}} (30,643,000 [[pood]]) of grain and flour annually.<ref name="hramkov">{{Cite book |last=Храмков |first=А. А. |url=http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/predpri3/index.html |title=Предприниматели и предпринимательство в Сибири. Вып.3 |publisher=Изд-во АГУ |year=2001 |isbn=5-7904-0195-3 |location=Barnaul |trans-title=Entrepreneurs and business undertakings in Siberia. 3rd issue |chapter=Железнодорожные перевозки хлеба из Сибири в западном направлении в конце XIX – начале XX вв |trans-chapter=Railroad transportation of bread from Siberia westwards in the late 19th–early 20th centuries |access-date=2006-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184610/http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/predpri3/index.html |archive-date=2007-09-30 |url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905, military traffic to the east disrupted the flow of civil freight.

The Trans-Siberian Railway brought with it millions of peasant-migrants from the Western regions of Russia and Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subtelny |first=Orest |url=https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0 |title=Ukraine: a history |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-8020-8390-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/262 262] |url-access=registration}}</ref> Between 1906 and 1914, the peak migration years, about 4 million peasants arrived in Siberia.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dronin |first1=N. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9a5j_JL6cqIC&pg=PA38 |title=Climate dependence and food problems in Russia, 1900–1990: the interaction of climate and agricultural policy and their effect on food problems |last2=Bellinger |first2=E. G. |publisher=Central European University Press |year=2005 |isbn=963-7326-10-3 |page=38}}</ref>

Historian [[Christian Wolmar]] argues that the railroad was a failure, because it was built for narrow political reasons, with poor supervision and planning. The costs were vastly exaggerated to enrich greedy bureaucrats. The planners hoped it would stimulate settlement, but the Siberian lands were too infertile and cold and distant. There was little settlement beyond {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the line. The fragile system could not handle the heavy traffic demanded in wartime, so the Japanese in 1904 knew they were safe in [[Russo-Japanese War|their war with Russia]]. Wolmar concludes:

{{blockquote|The railway, which was single track throughout, with the occasional passing loop, had, unsurprisingly, been built to a deficient standard in virtually every way. The permanent way was flimsy, with lightweight rails that broke easily, insufficient [[Track ballast|ballast]], and railroad ties often carved from green wood that rotted in the first year of use. The small bridges were made of soft pine and rotted easily. The embankments were too shallow and narrow, often just {{convert|10|ft|m}} wide instead of the {{convert|16|ft|m}} prescribed in the design, and easily washed away. There were vicious gradients and narrow curves that wore out the fringe flanges on the wheels of the rolling stock after as little as six weeks use.<ref>Christian Wolmar, ''Blood, iron, and gold: How the railroads transformed the world'' (Public Affairs, 2011), pp 169–70.</ref>}}

===War and revolution===
[[File:War. Russian National Dance.jpg|thumb|Trans-Siberian Railway, c. 1904]]
In the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904–1905), the strategic importance and limitations of the Trans-Siberian Railway contributed to Russia's defeat in the war. As the line was single track, transit was slower as trains had to wait in crossing sidings for opposing trains to cross. This limited the capacity of the line and increased transit times. A troop train or a train carrying injured personnel traveling from east to west would delay the arrival of troops or supplies and ammunition in a train traveling from west to east. The supply difficulties meant the Russian forces had limited troops and supplies while Japanese forces with shorter lines of communication were able to attack and advance.

After the [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917, the railway served as the vital line of communication for the [[Czechoslovak Legions|Czechoslovak Legion]] and the allied armies that landed troops at Vladivostok during the [[Siberian Intervention]] of the [[Russian Civil War]]. These forces supported the [[White movement|White Russian]] government of Admiral [[Alexander Kolchak]], based in [[Omsk]], and White Russian soldiers fighting the Bolsheviks on the [[Ural Mountains|Ural]] front. The intervention was weakened, and ultimately defeated, by partisan fighters who blew up bridges and sections of track, particularly in the volatile region between [[Krasnoyarsk]] and [[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]].<ref name="Isitt">{{Cite journal |last=Isitt |first=Benjamin |year=2006 |title=Mutiny from Victoria to Vladivostok, December 1918 |url=http://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/CHR/87.2.223 |journal=Canadian Historical Review |volume=87 |issue=2 |pages=223–64 |doi=10.3138/chr/87.2.223 |access-date=3 October 2016}}</ref>

The leader of legions politician [[Milan Rastislav Štefánik|Milan Rastislav Stefanik]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kšiňan |first=Michal |title=Milan Rastislav Štefánik – Muž, ktorý sa rozprával s hviezdami |publisher=Slovart |year=2021 |isbn=9788055639048}}</ref> traveled from Moscow to Vladivostok in March to August 1918, on his journey to Japan and the United States of America.<ref>Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN|978-80-87173-47-3}}, pp. 38–50, 52–102, 104–22, 124–28, 140–48, 184–90</ref>
The Trans-Siberian Railway also played a very direct role during parts of Russia's history, with the [[Czechoslovak Legions|Czechoslovak Legion]] using heavily armed and [[armored train]]s to control large amounts of the railway (and of Russia itself) during the [[Russian Civil War]] at the end of World War I.<ref name="WILLMOTT251">{{Cite book |last=Willmott |first=H.P. |title=First World War |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |year=2003 |page=251}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> As one of the few fighting forces left in the aftermath of the imperial collapse, and before the [[Red Army]] took control, the [[Czechs]] and [[Slovaks]] were able to use their organization and the resources of the railway to establish a temporary zone of control before eventually continuing onwards towards Vladivostok, from where they emigrated back to [[Czechoslovakia]].

===World War II===
{{main|Pacific Route}}
During World War II, the Trans-Siberian Railway played an important role in the supply of the powers fighting in Europe.  In 1939–1941 it was a source of rubber for Germany thanks to the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact|USSR-Germany pact]]. While Germany's merchant shipping was shut down, the Trans-Siberian Railway (along with its [[Chinese Eastern Railway|Trans-Manchurian branch]]) served as the essential link between Germany and Japan, especially for rubber. By March 1941, {{convert|300|t|sp=us}} of this material would, on average, traverse the Trans-Siberian Railway every day on its way to Germany.<ref>{{Citation |last=Martin |first=Bernd |title=Deutschland und Japan Im Zweiten Weltkrieg |page=155 |year=1969 |publisher=Musterschmidt Verlag}}</ref>

At the same time, a number of Jews and anti-Nazis used the Trans-Siberian Railway to escape Europe, including the mathematician [[Kurt Gödel]] and Betty Ehrlich Löwenstein, mother of British actor, director and producer [[Heinz Bernard]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lowenstein |first=Jonathan |date=26 April 2010 |title=The Journey of a Lifetime: my grandmother's escape on the Trans-Siberian railway |url=http://jonathanlowenstein.blogspot.co.il/2010/04/journey-of-lifetime-my-grandmother.html |journal=Telaviv1}}</ref> Several thousand Jewish refugees were able to make this trip thanks to the Curaçao visas issued by the Dutch consul [[Jan Zwartendijk]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jan Zwartendijk. – Collections Search – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |url=https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1072299}}</ref> and the Japanese visas issued by the Japanese consul, [[Chiune Sugihara]], in [[Kaunas]], Lithuania. Typically, they took the TSR to [[Vladivostok]], then by ship to US. Until June 1941, pro-Nazi ethnic Germans from the Americas used the TSR to go to Germany.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170123092603/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/GERMAN%20INTELLIGENCE%20ACTIVITIES_0001.pdf "German Intelligence Activities in China during WW I."]}} United States War Department Strategic Services Unit, March 1, 1946</ref>

The situation reversed after 22 June 1941. By [[Operation Barbarossa|invading the Soviet Union]], Germany cut off its only reliable trade route to Japan. Instead, it had to use fast merchant ships and later large oceanic submarines to evade the Allied blockade. On the other hand, the USSR received [[Lend-Lease]] supplies from the US. Even after Japan went to war with the US, despite German complaints, Japan usually allowed Soviet ships to sail between the US and Vladivostok unmolested.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|1969|p=174}}</ref> As a result, the [[Pacific Route]] – via northern Pacific Ocean and the TSR – became the safest connection between the US and the USSR.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Accordingly, it accounted for as much freight as the [[Arctic convoys of World War II|North Atlantic–Arctic]] and [[Persian Corridor|Iranian]] routes combined, though cargoes were limited to raw materials and non-military goods. From 1941 to 1942 the TSR also played an important role in relocating Soviet industries from European Russia to Siberia in the face of the German invasion. The TSR also transported Soviet troops west from the Far East to take part in [[Battle of Moscow|the Soviet counter-offensive in December 1941]].

In 1944–45 the TSR was used to prepare for the [[Soviet–Japanese War]] of August 1945; see [[Pacific Route]].  When an Anglo-American delegation visited Moscow in October 1944 to discuss the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan, [[Alanbrooke]] was told by General Antonov and Stalin himself that the line capacity was 36 pairs of trains per day, but only 26 could be counted on for military traffic; see [[Pacific Route]]. The capacity of each train was from 600 to 700 tons.<ref>{{cite book | last = Alanbrooke | first = Field Marshal Lord  | authorlink = Alan Brooke  | title = War Diaries 1939–1945 | publisher = Phoenix Press | date = 2001 | location =  | pages = 607, 608| url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 1-84212-526-5 }}</ref>

Although the Japanese estimated that an attack was not likely before Spring 1946, ''Stavka'' had planned for a mid-August 1945 offensive, and had concealed the buildup of a force of 90 divisions; many had crossed Siberia in their vehicles to avoid straining the rail link.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glantz |first=David M. |url=https://archive.org/details/whentitansclashe00glan_0/page/278 |title=When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler |date=1995 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=0-7006-0899-0 |location=Kansas |page=[https://archive.org/details/whentitansclashe00glan_0/page/278 278] |author-link=David M. Glantz}}</ref>

===Post World War II===
[[File:Gare de Omsk (4871704288).jpg|thumb|The Trans-Siberian is a vital link to the [[Russian Far East]].]]

A trainload of containers can be taken from Beijing to [[Hamburg]], via the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian lines in as little as 15 days, but typical cargo transit times are usually significantly longer<ref>{{Cite news |last=Donahue |first=Patrick |date=24 January 2008 |title=China-to-Germany Cargo Train Completes Trial Run in 15 Days |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aqUyRa4wf95g&refer=germany}}</ref> and typical cargo transit time from Japan to major destinations in European Russia was reported as around 25 days.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kachi |first=Hiroyuki |date=20 July 2007 |title=Mitsui talking to Russian railway operator on trans-Siberian freight service |work=MarketWatch.com |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mitsui-talking-to-russian-railway-operator-on-trans-siberian-freight-service}}</ref>

According to a 2009 report, the best travel times for cargo [[block train]]s from Russia's Pacific ports to the western border (of Russia, or perhaps of [[Belarus]]) were around 12 days, with trains making around {{convert|900|km|0|abbr=on}} per day, at a maximum operating speed of {{convert|80|km/h|0|abbr=on}}. In early 2009; however, Russian Railways announced an ambitious "Trans-Siberian in Seven Days" plan. According to this plan, $11 billion will be invested over the next five years to make it possible for goods traffic to cover the same {{convert|9000|km|0|abbr=on}} distance in just seven days. The plan will involve increasing the cargo trains' speed to {{convert|90|km/h|0|abbr=on}} in 2010–2012, and, at least on some sections, to {{convert|100|km/h|0|abbr=on}} by 2015. At these speeds, goods trains will be able to cover {{convert|1500|km|0|abbr=on}} per day.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 May 2009 |title=Trans-Siberian in seven days |url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/trans-siberian-in-seven-days.html |website=[[Railway Gazette International]]}}</ref>

==== Crime ====

From February to May 1993, a number of [[Beijing]]-based gangs routinely robbed, beat, and raped railway passengers.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 October 1993 |title=Chinese, Russian police nab Trans-Siberian 'great train robbers' |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/10/20/Chinese-Russian-police-nab-Trans-Siberian-great-train-robbers/4361751089600/}}</ref>
The criminals took advantage of the fact that Chinese police disembarked the train before the border crossing into Mongolia, but no Mongolian police ever boarded to replace them, and Russian authorities did not board until the train had been in Siberia for an entire day. During the interim, there was no effective security on the trains, and no practical resistance to criminals armed with knives, sticks, and cattle prods.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 December 2021 |title=In 1993, when a Chinese-Russian train was looted and raped by bandits for several days, the central authorities issued an instruction: cross-border pursuit |url=https://www.laitimes.com/en/article/18tbu_1a33c.html}}</ref>

===Developments in shipping===
{{Main article|Trans-Eurasia Logistics}}
On January 11, 2008, China, Mongolia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Germany agreed to collaborate on a cargo train service between Beijing and Hamburg.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 January 2008 |title=Beijing to Hamburg fast cargo rail link planned |work=The China Post |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/2008/01/11/138592/Beijing-to.htm |access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref>

The railway can typically deliver containers in {{frac|1|3}} to {{frac|1|2}} of the time of a sea voyage, and in late 2009 announced a 20% reduction in its container shipping rates.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} With its 2009 rate schedule, the Trans-Siberian Railway will transport a forty-foot container to Poland from [[Yokohama]] for $2,820, or from [[Busan]] for $2,154.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=2010 |title=Chapter 4: Freight Rates |url=http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2010_en.pdf |journal=Review of Maritime Transport |publisher=United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |page=89 |issn=0566-7682 |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref>