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Russia’s Defense Minister gives start to Baikal-Amur railway upgrade

"Transport capabilities of Eastern Siberia will be expanded by the end of 2024 after the railway comes into service," Sergey Shoigu pointed out

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu

© Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

VERKHNEZEISK, August 12. /TASS/. An upgrade of the eastern leg of the Baikal-Amur Main Railway (BAM) by 2024 year-end will ramp up the transport capabilities of Eastern Siberia and boost transit traffic and the transit transportation volume after its implementation, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the inauguration ceremony.

"Today we laid a stone symbolizing the start of upgrading the eastern leg of the Baikal-Amur Main Railway. This is the 340-km long segment from Ulak to Fevralsk. The value of this BAM section for the national economy is enormous," the Minister said.

"Transport capabilities of Eastern Siberia will be expanded by the end of 2024 after the railway comes into service. The main line’s throughput capacity and the transit traffic volumes will grow. Furthermore, Russia will be able to widen the entry to markets of countries of the Asia-Pacific Region," Shoigu said.

BAM is a railway that runs across East Siberia and the Far East, the second main Russian exit to the Pacific, along with the Trans-Siberian Railway. Its total length is currently 4,300 km. Both main lines are operating at the limit of their throughput capacity.

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