Russian Railways: News

Interesting project. Connection of the Trans-Siberian Railway with Korea and Japan. I don't know how much priority is the plan?

Arrow wrote:
Interesting project. Connection of the Trans-Siberian Railway with Korea and Japan. I don't know how much priority is the plan?...

Japanese went on record that the moment Sakhalin is connected to mainland Russia they will start building connection between Sakhalin and Japan

Russia is definitely planning to do their part for their own use so we will see

PapaDragon wrote:

Arrow wrote:
Interesting project.  Connection of the Trans-Siberian Railway with Korea and Japan.  I don't know how much priority is the plan?...

Japanese went on record that the moment Sakhalin is connected to mainland Russia they will start building connection between Sakhalin and Japan

Russia is definitely planning to do their part for their own use so we will see

Don't think they'll do anything until a settlement on the Kurils is reached

Sakhalin is not contested.

There is a large oil and gas project in the south of Sakhalin and also big fishing facilities. Lot of potential for growth. And the connection between it an Japan would be paid for by the japanese taxpayer. That leaves "just" the investment in the northern bridge to Russia.

Interior of the new ten-car Lastochka train

flamming_python wrote:

PapaDragon wrote:

Arrow wrote:
Interesting project.  Connection of the Trans-Siberian Railway with Korea and Japan.  I don't know how much priority is the plan?...

Japanese went on record that the moment Sakhalin is connected to mainland Russia they will start building connection between Sakhalin and Japan

Russia is definitely planning to do their part for their own use so we will see

Don't think they'll do anything until a settlement on the Kurils is reached

It has nothing to do with Japan

Russia wants to connect Sakhalin with mainland and it's completely independent issue so that part is happening

After that it's up to Japan, they are ones that have most to gain

Assembly of the 200th Lastochka electric train. At the moment, it has already been transferred to the customer. In total, 254 trains of this type are operated in Russia, 54 of which are assembled in Germany

Lastochka on the route Mineralnye vody-Nazran

2ES10 Granite electric locomotive of Phosagro company

In 2022, traffic will be opened on a part of the reconstructed BAM branch

DROGOSHEVSK / Amur Region /, October 8. / TASS /. Half of the 340-kilometer eastern branch of the Baikal-Amur Railway (BAM) will be open to train traffic in 2022. Russian Deputy Defense Minister General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov told reporters about it.

On Friday, Bulgakov made a working trip to the troops of the Eastern Military District, where in the areas of the settlements Drogoshevsk, Tungala, Ogoron, Ulak, Verkhnezeysk, he checked the implementation of the work of the railway troops on the reconstruction of the eastern section of the BAM.

"In 2022, we must open working train traffic on almost half of the reconstructed BAM section," the deputy minister said.

At present, he specified, the military is working along the entire length of the eastern branch of the BAM, which is 340 km long. The first trains on two sections of the eastern branch will begin test runs by the end of this year.

On the eastern section of the BAM, about 1.7 thousand servicemen and 900 units of automobile and special equipment are involved, all work is being carried out ahead of schedule. Railway troops of the RF Armed Forces work on a 339-kilometer section - from Ulak station to Fevralsk station. A total of 19 facilities are under construction: nine sidings, nine double-track inserts and one second main track.

In August, Bulgakov said at the Army-2021 forum that the reconstruction of the eastern branch of the Baikal-Amur Mainline is planned to be completed a year earlier - in 2023.

https://tass-ru.translate.goog/ekonomika/12613193?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui

Nothing like a map BAM looks longer that 340km so not sure which part this is.

The military so far is only doing the section to the east of Tynda, north of the reservoir. Area remote and tundra bog land apparently. Civilian workers doing the rest...maybe . They did the tunnel drilling and the track doubling in that area north of Baikal.

Quick question, Did the Russian government tasked the construction branch of the Armed forces to build new portions of the BAM? Is this more efficient compared to assigning the construction to civilian companies?

PhSt wrote:

Quick question, Did the Russian government tasked the construction branch of the Armed forces to build new portions of the BAM? Is this more efficient compared to assigning the construction to civilian companies?

It was not the military construction branch but the Railway Troops and they were assigned only about 340 out of 4300 kilometers so far. The area they are responsible for is one of the most remote and difficult. The Russian Railway Corp has been using civilians in other areas so far.

Russia: RZD begins upgrade and development of Baikal-Amur Mainline railway

On 8 July 2014, at Tynda’s central stadium, during the celebrations surrounding the 40th anniversary of the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) railway, a video message was relayed by Russian President Vladimir Putin from Moscow to Tynda, congratulating all the manufacturers, construction veterans and current line workers, on the occasion of this round-number anniversary.

As pointed out by Vladimir Putin, the BAM railway was not only a colossal construction project but also a huge challenge for the country: “The railway had great strategic, military and economic significance. People had to work in very harsh climatic and geological conditions; this was a strain for the entire nation, and especially for those people who actually worked there. What they did was undoubtedly a heroic feat. Today, we are working to expand the capacity of BAM and to establish this country as a powerful transport nation”, highlighted the President of the Russian Federation.

During the video link, the Russian President also inaugurated the ceremony of laying a silver rail joint on the Taksimo-Lodya railway section of the East Siberian Railway, symbolising the launch of the new large-scale BAM-2 project. “For us this construction has great significance as we are aware of the difficulties and responsibilities that we face. We have never let you down and we won’t let you down today”, said President of RZD Vladimir Yakunin.”

The total cost of financing this project is around 12.2 billion euros, of which 6.46 billion euros will be provided by RZD, and the remaining 5.56 billion euros by the National Welfare Fund and Russian Federation budget. RZD has already begun work on developing its eastern section in strict compliance with the government-approved schedule.

A public technical and financial audit is currently taking place, the results of which are being analysed by experts during public hearings before being submitted to the government. Schedules for research, construction and installation have been prepared as well as a research department. RZD’s Board has approved the establishment of a Railway Development Directorate for the eastern part of Russia, responsible for coordinating the implementation of this project.

In accordance with the Russian Railways’ approved list of important measures for 2014, the work planned to be carried out is expected to cost around 61.4 billion rubles. Work has already started on 564 infrastructure facilities on the East Siberian, Trans-Baikal and Far East railways. Over the course of this year, two stretches of track between Lena and Hani, and two passing points on the Tynda-Ulak and Ulak-Novy Urgal railway lines are to go into service.

(Source: RZD)

https://uic.org/com/enews/nr/408/article/russia-rzd-begins-upgrade-and?page=modal_enews

flamming_python wrote:

PapaDragon wrote:

Arrow wrote:
Interesting project.  Connection of the Trans-Siberian Railway with Korea and Japan.  I don't know how much priority is the plan?...

Japanese went on record that the moment Sakhalin is connected to mainland Russia they will start building connection between Sakhalin and Japan

Russia is definitely planning to do their part for their own use so we will see

Don't think they'll do anything until a settlement on the Kurils is reached

A settlement on the Kurils is already reached, its just that the Japs don't like it.  They belong to Russia.

The Kurils were taken as a legitimate response to the Japanese abrogation of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg signed in 1875 by the Japanese aggression of 1905 (the Russo-Japanese War) in which they siezed the southern half of Sakhalin (which under the Treaty had previously been ceded by Japan to Russia in exchange for the Northern Kuril Islands). Japanese aggression was reversed after WW2 and the Southern Kurils were taken as just and righteous compensation.

Japs need to STFU and accept the morale of this story, which is that if you commit aggression against your neighbors, and then lose, the loss of territory is a real possibility. Germany has permanently lost sovereignty over her traditional eastern Baltic territories, and you don't hear Angela Merkel whining constantly and demanding the return of Danzig (now Gdansk) and Pomeranian in Western Poland.

Russia will never give up the Kurils as its a matter of national survival.  Were they to return to Japanese rule, they would allow the US would militarise them and further encircle and threaten Russian access to the open ocean.  Never going to happen, no way.  and considering Japans' aggression and horrendous wartime atrocities (particularly against the Chinese & Koreans) the Japanese deserve not a single grain of Kuril sand.

GarryB wrote:The rail lines across Russia are getting lots of investment to boost their capacity but I think a few lines heading north to a few northern ports would also be a good thing too to relieve some of the traffic stress, and improve transport links and communication links in the region.

More rail freight going through Russia from the EU to Asia and back again will also allow Russia to transport by rail or sea or air to those places or any places on the silk road faster and easier and cheaper.

I don't think roads across Siberia will be a thing any time soon because you would need so many settlements along the way to stop or you would need a bus like vehicle that can carry all sorts of repair and support equipment... it would be an adventure... like crossing three cold Sahara deserts at once.

Not like crossing the US where there are plenty of places to stop for food or fuel or to sleep the night.

But rail links will allow settlements to become practical and in certain places where the situations are just right you might get places that could grow because it is easy to support because of rail or air links and nearby construction or mining or other things happening nearby might require enough manpower to make a shop and a pub viable...

There are a lot heading north either under construction or being revitalized

From West to East, the first one we have is the Belkomur line connecting the Urals (Yekaterinburg, Perm) to the port of Arkhangelsk on the White Sea via the southern territories of the Komi republic. The red on the bottom image is what sections of the railway need to be constructed.



Further east, there are also plans for the construction of a branch line from Belkomur to the port of Indiga on the Barents Sea


Both these projects are designed not only to allow the export of Ural's based resources and industrial goods via the Northern Sea Route, but to also facilitate goods to and from the countries of Central Asia, which are already connected by rail to the Ural cities in turn. The Belkomur mainline and the branch line to Indiga are still in planning but they're as good as confirmed.

Moving further east, we have the Northern Latitudinal Railway project basically already under construction. It will link the most north-western reaches of the present integrated Russian railway network - the towns of Vorkuta and Chum in the Komi republic, through to the Yamal and then Taimyr peninsula.
The route passes through Salekhard (capital of the Yamalo-Nenets Administrative District and a river port) to Novyj Urengoi (largest city on the Yamal), through to the deep water ports of Igarka and Dudinka on the Taimyr, and finally Norilsk (largest city on the Taimyr and a major metallurgical center)



Essentially this is a revival of the Stalin-era Salekhard–Igarka Railway that has long been abandoned, and the linking to the Russian railway network of currently isolated railway lines, such as the Norilsk-Dudinka route and the Novyj Urengoi to Nadym section.
Again the effect of this project, other than economic and transport integration of the Yamal and Taimyr with the rest of Russia - will be to link these arctic regions to the Urals and Central Asia via the northern reaches of the Komi republic, facilitating their imports and exports via the Northern Sea Route. It will also allow Komi's coal reserves around Vorkuta city, to be exported via an additional route instead of through Arkhangelsk, although it's possible that a seperate branch-line will be constructed instead for that (the Karskomur project)

Relating to the Northern Latitudinal Railway, we also have the project of a branch-line currently under construction from the rail terminus at Bovanenkovo to the LNG port at Sabetta, at the tip of the Yamal peninsula. This will allow Sabetta to be more easily used as an import port as well for the region and further afield. It's projected to become the largest port in the Arctic next to Murmansk.



Finally, there is also a railroad being planned from Yakutsk to the port of Magadan. This will link Yakutia's eastern-most territories as well as Magadan to the rest of Russia, and also allow eastern Yakutia to be developed for natural resources affordably, with imports/exports via Magadan.



All we need now is for a railroad project to link Norilsk and Yakutsk, with a railway bridge over the river Lena to connect to the Amur–Yakutsk Mainline; and we will essentially end up with a Transpolar Mainline in Russia, an Arctic duplicate of the Trans-Siberian that can be used if one wants, to take a train trip from Murmansk to Magadan, all without leaving Russia's northern latitudes.

Some very informative and interesting material I have watched this week.



Long story short, Russian railroad system is becoming more and more competitive means of container transport, and the strategy pushes the agenda of increasing the volume of transported containers 3.2x factor by 2024.
That includes extending the existing railroad net and creating 10 new railroad logistic container/cargo terminals along with Russia.
They have made some special kind of rail wheel, that enables to increase the speed of cargo train up to 160 km/h.
It was a special RŻD, ministerial, industrial, and scientific project that succeeded, and they get some world-class prizes for it. That would functionally double the railroad capacity, and cut by half the time needed to transport a container from China, without any massive infrastructural investment. And the gigantic RŻD investment program is a fact we can watch with our own eyes.
And if you ask me if that works, then I will say hell yeah!
This year, I have ordered the first transport from China for my company using railroad, because the price is already almost equal to the sea route, while it takes half of the time.

ALAMO wrote:It was a special RŻD, ministerial, industrial, and scientific project that succeeded, and they get some world-class prizes for it. That would functionally double the railroad capacity, and cut by half the time needed to transport a container from China, without any massive infrastructural investment. And the gigantic RŻD investment program is a fact we can watch with our own eyes.

It's not a rail wheel, although I'm sure those help

Pretty sure it's this system

According to the original video the load bearing capacity of the wheels has been increased substantially.   It is not
the other system.   That is not to dismiss it, but a physical limiter on the speed from the wheels cannot be circumvented
any other way aside from adding more wheel sets to the wagons and locomotives. That adds a lot of weight.

Anyway, the railway construction in Russian 2021 is like the railway construction in the late 1800s in North America and
literally opening up the continent.   Rather impressive and historical.

http://kremlin.ru/acts/assignments/orders/67597

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2022/01/putin-gives-government-four-months-deadline-present-new-barents-sea-railroad-plan

President Vladimir Putin on Friday instructed Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to speed up plans for a brand new rail link to the ice-free Barents Sea in the Russian Arctic.

The short order posted on the Kremlin’s portal calls on the Government to “submit proposals for the creation of a railway route to the Barents Sea in the area of the bay of the Indiga River.”

Deadline for the proposal is set to May 10, 2022.