 Before the bridge was operational, they had arranged a train ferry in summertime and horse-drawn train platforms to cross the icebound Amur River in wintertime.In 1912, the government began issuing up to 400 rubles in allowances and necessary household articles to those workers who had decided to settle in this region.The Amur Railway was put under the authority of the Ministry of Communications with its administration in Khabarovsk.