Route Map..... At the end of 18th century, building any type of road across frozen Siberia was a fantasy comparable to the Mars missions today. But it was done, with many stops and starts, and many failures and successes. On May 31 of 1891, in Vladivostok city, the Russian Emperor Nicholas the First personally “planted the seed” of a much needed connection between European Russia and its Pacific lands. The “seed” grew into an impressive rail network connecting Russia, China, Central Asia, and Europe, with the Trans-Siberian line as its core. Today, the ~ 9600km (6000 miles) Trans-Siberian railroad, often referred to as the "Trans-Sib" or "Great Siberian Way" is the largest and busiest rail network in the world. A true engineering wonder, the road continues to provide steady traffic both eastbound and westbound by train engines running from electric power. It opened the doors to many corners of Eurasia and continues to be instrumental in defining trade and migration flow in Asia-Pacific countries.