vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #146 / Opinion / Reading article...

“It is impossible to revive the dead” – that’s one official’s assessment of the Trans-Siberian Railroad’s troubles.

She has reason for pessimism. Trains are decreasing, and the high tariffs are a confusing tangle that no single agency can fix.

But the railroad is too important to surrender in despair. It was the single most important feature in the settlement of Russia’s Far East, and it separates Vladivostok from a dozen other port cities in the east. With the right government and business leadership, the obituaries will prove to be premature.