Trans-Siberian Railway as the Russo-Chinese part of the Trans-Siberian Railway, connecting Russia with China and providing a shorter route to Vladivostok. A Russian staff and administration based in Harbin operated it. Siberian agriculture began to send cheap grain westwards beginning around 1869. Agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of serfdom, which was formally abolished in 1861. To defend the central territory and prevent possible social destabilisation, the Tsarist government introduced the Chelyabinsk tariff-break (Челябинский тарифный перелом) in 1896, a tariff barrier for grain passing through Chelyabinsk, and a similar barrier in Manchuria. This measure changed the
Small West Siberian Railway Small West Siberian Railway The Small West Siberian Railway or Novosibirsk Children's Railway (Russian: Малая Западно-Сибирская железная дорога, "Malaya Zapadno-Sibirskaya zheleznaya doroga") is a narrow gauge miniature railway in the Russian city Novosibirsk. The first section of the railway line was opened on 4 June 2005 as one of the many children's railways in Russia. It is still in use every day in summer except Mondays. So far the track has a length of . It has five stations. The decision, to build a children's railway in Novosibirsk, was announced in August 2003 by the West Siberian Railway together with