Johnson's Russia List
#6617
26 December 2002
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A CDI Project
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#3
Trans-Siberian Railroad Now Electrified
December 25, 2002
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian officials celebrated the full electrification
Wednesday of the legendary Trans-Siberian railroad line, the world's
longest track.
``The line can now work as a unified system,'' Viktor Popov, chairman of
the Far Eastern section of the 5,758-mile line, said at ceremonies at the
Ruzhino station in Russia's Far East, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
The Far Eastern section of the line runs 4,660 miles and carries more than
30 percent of all Russian exports. Officials said they hoped the
electrification would boost traffic on the Trans-Siberian railway by up to
40 percent.
``The completion of this grandiose project is a huge contribution to the
development of the Russian Far East,'' said Sergei Darkin, governor of the
Primorye region, according to ITAR-Tass.
It took 74 years to finish installing the equipment that allows
electricity-powered trains to run along the entire line, from Moscow to the
Far East. The last, 109-mile section was finished this month.
The Trans-Siberian railway celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.
Russia has said it wants to link the line with a railway being rebuilt
between North and South Korea.
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