Electrification of Trans-Siberian Railway to Be Completed by End of 2002

A ceremonial event to mark the end of electrification work on the Trans-Siberian railway line will be held in the town of Lesozavodsk on December 25. The event will be attended by Russian Railways Minister Gennady Fadeev, Presidential Plenipotentiary for the Far East District Konstantin Pulikovsky, Primorsk Regional Governor Sergei Darkin, and the heads of administrative districts within the region.

According to the Primorsk regional administration's press service, electrification of the remaining 425 kilometre un-electrified stretch of the line was begun in 1999. Alexander Lashin, the deputy head of the regional administration's department for transport and communications, believes that electrification of the railway will allow a large increase in the volume of goods transported along the Trans-Siberian railway, and will also reduce delivery times.

Construction of the Trans-Siberian line was begun in 1891. It connected the Far East with Siberia and European Russia. The railway runs 9,288 kilometres from Moscow to Vladivostok and is the longest continuous railway line on the planet, crossing almost all of Eurasia.