Chinese Eastern Railway Liaodong from China in 1898. Officially, traffic on the line started in November 1901, but regular passenger traffic from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok across the Trans-Siberian railway did not commence until July 1903. In 1898, construction of a 550-mile (880 km) spur line, most of which later formed the South Manchuria Railway, began at Harbin, leading southwards through Eastern Manchuria, along the Liaodong Peninsula, to the ice-free deep-water port at Lüshun, which Russia was fortifying and developing into a first-class strategic naval base and marine coaling station for its Far East Fleet and Merchant Marine. This town was known in
Jubilee Medal "100 Years of the Trans-Siberian Railway" Decree 1099 of September 7, 2010 removed the Medal "100 Years of the Trans-Siberian Railway" from the list of state awards of the Russian Federation. It is no longer awarded. The Jubilee Medal "100 Years of the Trans-Siberian Railway" is a silver 32mm in diameter circular medal with raised rims on both sides. On its obverse the relief image of a locomotive pulling a train towards the right at a shallow angle. Above the train, the ancient emblem of Siberia (two sables supporting a crown, a bow and arrows). Along the medal circumference in the upper half of the obverse,