SIBERIAN RAILWAY

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 182, 30 April 1936, Page 11

SIBERIAN RAILWAY

Second Track Completed Moscow, April 28. The last link of 1375 miles, between Karimskaya and Khabarovsk, in the task of double-tracking the trans-Sibe-rian railway, has been completed by 70,000 workers after two years of work. The completion of the double-trackii-g of the trans-Siberian railway is an achievement of great importance to Russia, particularly from the point of view of defence. The fact that an enormous expanse of her territory was linked ta European Russia by only a single railway track and not always efficiently conducted services told heavily against Russia both in the Russo-Japanese War and in the Great War of 1914-18. It whs largely considerations of defence which influenced her in undertaking the work, although the value of better railway communication to tlie task now being prosecuted of developing the natural wealth of hitherto almost unexploited tracts ot land in Siberia and elsewhere will be great. The work on the line was started several years ago. and by April, 1934, double track communication had been completed and the original line repaired and strengthened from European centres to near the frontier of Manchukuo at Kariniskaya. where the Chinese Eastern Railway, which runs southward into Manchukuo, joins the trans-Siberian line. The final section, on which the work of double-tracking has been completed, is from Karimskaya to Khabarovsk. this part of tlie line passing a little to the north of the border of Manchukuo. From Khabarovsk the line runs southward through the Maritime Province of Siberia and down the eastern border of Manchukuo to its terminus, the port of Vladivostock. Where necessary the old permanent way has been reinforced to permit of heavy traffic and an automatic block system of signalling has been installed on at least part of the line. “Shock tactics” have been employed by the Soviet authorities with the use of forced labourers from the. Amur-Baikal prison camps, to which “class-enemies” and “undesirables” are deported from other parts of Russia. At times there have been 100.000 men engaged exclusively on railway works in the Far East.