It is also connected by rail with Kalach on the Don, where merchandise from the Sea of Azov is disembarked.
Corn from middle Russia for Astrakhan is transferred from the railway to boats at Tsaritsyn; timber and wooden wares from the upper Volga are unloaded here and sent by rail to Kalach; and fish, salt and fruits sent from Astrakhan by boat up the Volga are here unloaded and despatched by rail to the interior of Russia.
The Don is navigable throughout the government, and at Kalach is connected by a railway, 45 m.
The isthmus is too high to be crossed by means of a canal, but a railway to Kalach brings the Volga into some sort of connexion with the Don and the Sea of Azov.
From that point, or rather from Kalach, where the railway (built in 1862) from the Volga has its western terminus, the traffic is very extensive.