More than 5 billion euros to better connect Russia’s Far East

Russian Railways plans to invest 460 billion rubles (51.3 billion euros) in transportation projects in the east of the country in the next ten years. This includes projects to improve the freight transport network of the area, which is not as developed as the west of Russia. This was announced by president of the railway company Oleg Belozerov in the Russian media.

Transport links from east to west, but also from the east to Mongolia and China obviously serve the country as a whole. Modernisation of the Baikal-Amur Main Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway was set on the agenda in February this year, when the Russian Railways Corporation formulated a plan to accelerate this modernisation.

Eastern Railway

Most notably, Russian Railways considers building a railway to Magadan, in the east of Russia, by 2035. This town is located on the Sea of Okhotsk and although it has a seaport, it is completely isolated from the rest of the country. Much more to the south lies the port of Vladivostok, which is Russia’s main seaport on the east coast. This seaport is also the most eastern end of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

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The railway lines in the Far East will now receive the full attention of the Russian railway company. This includes the Baikal-Amur Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway, which will be modernised by 2030 and 2035 respectively. The company has developed a list of more than 200 priority road sections where additional tracks and station expansion are needed to increase the capacity of the two railways in the direction of seaports and border ports in the Far East.