Pacific Railway (Russia)

Chronicle

2024: Construction of the Pacific Railway will cost 140 billion rubles

In Yakutia and Khabarovsk Territory, a large-scale infrastructure project for the construction of the Pacific Railway worth ₽140 billion is being implemented. This was announced on September 27, 2024 at the Russian Energy Week by the head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Aysen Nikolaev, stressing the strategic importance of this facility for the development of the region's coal industry.

According to TASS, the new railway will be the first private railway in Russia with a length of 531 km. It will connect the coal deposits of Yakutia with the port of Elga on the Pacific coast, providing transportation of up to 30 million tons of coal annually.

Freepik

Construction is carried out in difficult climatic and geographical conditions, including the crossing of the Stanova Ridge. Despite this, work is ahead of schedule. Aysen Nikolaev said that the final closure of railway tracks is expected in October 2024.

3 thousand people are involved in the construction. After the completion of the project and the commissioning of the road, it is planned to create 3.5 thousand permanent jobs.

The Pacific Railway project is considered as a strategic solution to the problems of the Eastern landfill and is intended to significantly improve the logistics of the supply of Yakut coal for export. According to the head of Yakutia, the project shareholders have plans to further expand the throughput capacity of the highway to 50 million tons of coal per year.

In parallel with the construction of the railway, the possibility of expanding the capacity of the port of Elga from the planned 30 million tons to 50 million tons per year is being considered. This will fully realize the potential of the new transport corridor and increase the export capabilities of the region. Successful completion of construction can be an important factor in economic growth for Yakutia and the Khabarovsk Territory.^[1]

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