Russia Plans Major Railway Construction To Link Northern Sea Route To Major Cities

The North Siberian Railway, when built, will become part of the Transarctic Transport Corridor, according to Gennady Guselnikov, the Chairman of the Siberian Agreement Association. The Siberian Agreement is an interregional association of economic cooperation of the subjects of the Russian Federation. Currently, the subjects of the Russian Federation consist of three federal districts — the Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern regions. It appeared in 1990 with the aim of building inter-regional, inter-sectoral integration between Siberian territories in market conditions.

In late 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Russian government, the Kemerovo Region’s government, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Russian Railways to consider building the North Siberian Railway. The project’s cost is estimated at ₽8 trillion (US$97 billion). The payback period will be about 20 years.

Guselnikov said “The North Siberian Railway will have to be integrated because the route will become part of the Transarctic corridor. We have the main transportation arm and product delivery routes on hand to fill the Northern Sea Route. As an addition to the ports of the Northern Sea Route, we envisage a railway in one configuration or another”

The volume of freight traffic on the North Siberian Railway is estimated at 115 million tons per year, while the share of coal is about 50 million tons. “We are now actively studying the experience of the Pacific Railway, which was built very quickly,” Guselnikov said, adding that private businesses in Siberia could also consider participating in the railway project.

The Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin has also stated that the Russian government is looking at delivering goods from Siberia and the Urals using the Northern Sea Route, saying last week that “Another very important, significant task set by President Putin is the development of the Transarctic corridor, for which it is necessary to form modern shipbuilding centres that are capable of producing the various categories of vessels required for Arctic waters.”

At the Eastern Economic Forum a few days ago, Putin noted the need to open direct access for goods from Siberia and the Urals to the Arctic Ocean routes and stated the need to create shipyards that would produce tugboats to supply vessels for dry cargo and ice-class gas carriers, as well as nuclear icebreakers. According to Putin, the Transarctic Transport Corridor should be formed as a single integrated system that should combine sea, rail and road modes of transport. He also noted the growing interest in the Transarctic transport corridor from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok from Russian companies operating in the Arctic and from foreign carriers.

The Transarctic Corridor is a route connecting the western and eastern parts of Russia, via the St Petersburg in the west, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk on the northern seas and Vladivostok on Russia’s eastern Pacific coast. It is designed to connect the Russia’s industrial, agricultural, and energy production hubs to Asian consumer markets with a shorter, safer and economically profitable route.