Russia - China Cross-Border Cable Car To Open Next Year

The world’s first cross-border cableway, which will connect Russia and China and stretch across the Amur (Heilongjiang) river, will cost more than ₽13 billion (US$164 million) according to the latest projections, according to Ekaterina Kuzmina, the CEO of the Agency for the Development of Project Initiatives (ARPI).

Kuzmina said that “Right now, the total project budget is ₽13.2 billion. This includes the terminal, the cableway itself – everything together, fully turnkey, so that everything functions.”

The cross-border cable-car project is unique and has no other global comparisons, since cableways are typically constructed within a single country, ARPI said. The route between Blagoveshchensk (Russia) and Heihe (China) crosses the border at a height of 70 meters above the river and will span nearly 1km. The crossing will take 2.5 minutes.

The cableway will consist of two independent lines with two cabins, and its capacity will be 6,800 passengers per day in each direction, or 2.5 million people per year in both directions. Each car can carry 110 passengers.

On the Russian side, a four-level building with an area of 26,000 square meters is being constructed, which will house shopping areas, a food hall and recreation areas, halls of the Russian border crossing point, as well as art spaces for passengers and citizens to relax both inside the terminal and in the open air – on cascading terraces and observation platforms.

The Russian passenger boarding and disembarkation station is inside this building, unlike the Chinese project, where the terminal and boarding platform are separate structures.

“We chose a different approach for construction because we are in favor of comfort. Our partner went for a different approach. On the Chinese side, the passenger boarding and disembarkation station, is separate from the main building. With us, it is inside, it will be comfortable. When you come inside, you go straight to the terminal,” Kuzmina said.

Construction teams on both sides of the border are working in sync, and the Chinese equipment supplier is delivering components simultaneously to both sites. The passenger terminal building on the Russian side is 60% complete. Due to the large number of sunny days in the Amur region, the project includes extensive glazing to maximize natural light. Glazing is 20% complete and is expected to be finished by autumn 2025.

“We plan to complete construction of the cableway this year, but we will open it to the public in spring 2026. The facility is classified as third-level complexity. It’s a challenging project. Accordingly, we will first conduct test rides.” Kuzmina said.

The cableway is being built under an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and China signed in September 2015 and began in July 2019.

The project is being implemented by the Russian Agency for the Development of Project Initiatives. Initially, the project was scheduled for completion in H2 2022, with commissioning in 2023. Russia then announced a timeline revision due to the need for negotiations with Western partners. They are now excluded in participation, resulting in a three-year operational delay as Russia restructured its completion arrangements.