TASS, August 16. Construction of the Northern Latitudinal Railway (NLR) - a new railway line in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region - will help in improving situations in the region’s transport and social spheres, the Region’s Acting Governor Dmitry Artyukhov told TASS.
Earlier reports said the Russian government had ordered the railway would be built under a concession agreement. The government’s website published the document on Wednesday.
"This is an event, we have been waiting for… this is a very important project for our people, who wanted to have a bridge across the Ob," the official said. "NLR’s construction means development of the economy, and we shall be able to spend additional tax revenues for construction of new kindergartens, schools, sports complexes and other social infrastructures."
He named concession, the public-private partnership "a most progressive form to implement such a capital-intensive project."
"Construction of the Northern Latitudinal Railway will allow us to implement the tasks related to development of the Russian Arctic, outlined by the president," he added. "This railway line will be used in development of new deposits, it will reduce travel time and will make easier the logistics from West Siberia, taking a part of the cargo, which now is transported along the Trans-Siberian Railway."
In the project, the local government will be an investor for construction of the bridge across the Ob, the press service said. The bridge will connect Salekhard and Labytnangi. The regional government allocates 8.2 billion rubles ($122.7 million). The construction’s active phase will begin in 2019.
According to the presidential envoy to the Urals Federal District Nikolai Tsukanov, local construction companies will be involved in the project.
"We have discussed local cooperation, which is a very important issue, but, unfortunately, not all works, including implementation of state programs, are carried out by regional and local companies," he told TASS. "There are enough skilled specialists both in projecting and in construction (for the bridge across the Ob - TASS), and Chelyabinsk is not an exception, thus we are looking into all the programs, all state investments and will try to see ways of cooperation, so than the money remains in the region."
The Northern Latitudinal Railway
The Northern Latitudinal Railway will be 686 km long. The investments will make more than 230 billion rubles ($3.4 billion).
In October 2016, Russia’s railway company, RZD, and government of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region agreed the project.
The new transport line will favor the region’s complex economic and transport development. The existing transport infrastructures are not sufficient for planned exploration and development of natural deposits and for transportation of extracted materials. The railway will also connect the national transport systems via the Sabetta seaport with the Northern Sea Route.