NOVOSIBIRSK, February 11. /TASS/. The annual freight traffic along the North Siberian Railway, which President Putin earlier ordered to eye, is forecasted at 115 million tons, where coal makes about 50 million tons, Gennady Guselnikov of the Siberian Agreement Inter-Regional Association told reporters.
Earlier, the Russian president ordered the government, the Kemerovo Region, the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Railways to eye the project to build the North Siberian Railway.
"The estimation there is 115 million tons per year [in terms of freight traffic]. About 50 million tons are coal, because there are interests of the Khakassia, Novosibirsk, and Tuva Regions. Next are grain, mineral fertilizers and timber," he said.
The rail line will run from Nizhnevartovsk to Sabbeta, it will come to Bely Yar in the Tomsk Region, then Tashtagol in the Kemerovo Region, then to Altai and further on it will reach China's Urumqi, he continued. Feasibility studies are ready. Another major transport project is the Kuragino - Kyzyl railway line. Freight traffic on it is forecasted at 75 million tons. Both projects are due to be discussed at the Federation Council in April, he added.
Earlier, he said the Siberian Federal District need a route different from the Trans-Siberian Railway. Even when the Eastern polygon of railways (unites the Trans-Siberian railway and the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM)) is completed, its capacity will not be sufficient to transport most goods from Siberia, including, fertilizers and coal. The future rail route's one line will go to the Arctic, and presently specialists consider its access to the Gulf of Ob in Yamburg or to the port of Sabetta. The other line will run towards China across Siberia, he added. The North Siberian Railway's construction cost is estimated at 8 trillion rubles ($83 billion).