NOVOSIBIRSK, September 9. /TASS/. The North Siberian Railway, when built, will become part of the Transarctic Transport Corridor, the Siberian Agreement Association's Chairman of the Executive Committee Gennady Guselnikov told TASS.
In the fall of 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 8 trillion rubles ($97 billion). The payback period will be about 20 years, scientists say.
"The North Siberian Railway will have to be integrated in there, because it will be an element of the Transarctic Transport Corridor. We have the main transportation arm and product delivery routes to keep busy the Northern Sea Route. As an addition to the Northern Sea Route ports we suggest a railway in whatever configuration," he said.
The North Siberian Railway's freight traffic is estimated at 115 MTPA, where coal will make about 50 million tons. "We are now studying actively the experience of the Pacific Railway, which has been built very quickly," he said, adding that Siberian private businesses could also consider joining the railway project.
Earlier, at the Eastern Economic Forum, Russia's President Vladimir Putin 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 eastern and western parts of Russia, the ports of St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, through the North Seas, the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, designed to connect the world's industrial, agricultural, energy centers and consumer markets with a shorter, safer and economically profitable route.