Turkistan-Siberia Railroad

Turkistan-Siberia Railroad,

abbreviated as

Turk-Sib,

important railroad in Central Asia, providing the shortest link between Siberia and Central Asia. Completed in 1931, it runs from the Trans-Siberian RRTrans-Siberian Railroad,
rail line, linking European Russia with the Pacific coast. Its construction began in 1891, on the initiative of Count S. Y. Witte, and was completed in 1905.
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 at Novosibirsk SW to the Trans-Caspian RRTrans-Caspian Railroad,
transportation line linking the countries of Central Asia to one another and with the nations to the west. Built in the late 19th cent., the line begins at Turkmenbashi (Krasnovodsk) on the Caspian Sea and passes through Ashgabat, Bukhara, Samarkand, and
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, which it joins N of Tashkent. Its principal stations are Barnaul in Russia and Semey, Almaty, Taraz, and Shymkent in Kazakhstan. A spur of the railroad reaches Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. The railroad is of vital economic importance.