Trans-Siberian Railway imperial collapse, and before the Red Army took control, the Czechs and Slovaks were able to use their organisation 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. During World War II, the Trans-Siberian Railway played an important role in the supply of the powers fighting in Europe. During the first two years of the war the USSR had secretly agreed to a neutrality and non-aggression pact with Germany. While Germany's merchant shipping was interdicted by the Western allies, the Trans-Siberian Railway (along
West Siberian Railway West Siberian Railway West Siberian Railway () is a Rail operator of Russian Railways and part of the Great Trans-Siberian Railway crossing the Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk, and Altai regions of the Russian Federation as well as a portion of Kazakhstan. The company is headquartered in Novosibirsk and operated by the Russian Railways. The mainline was built between 1892 and 1896 by the Russian imperial government under Sergei Witte. Its railway route length exceeds 6000 km. The Turkestan–Siberia Railway branches off from Barnaul to the south, connecting Siberia to Central Asia. The network has 63 363 employees (as of 2009).