The Northern Latitudinal Railway is a railway line under construction in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. It is 707 kilometres long, along the Obskaya - Salekhard - Nadym - Novy Urengoy - Korotchaevo route, which should link the western and eastern parts of the autonomous region, linking the Northern Railway in the east with Sverdlovsk Oblast. The project is run jointly by the Government of Russia, the governments of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, PJSC Gazprom, JSC Russian Railways, and Development Corporation JSC. The construction coordinator of the railway is the Federal Agency for Railway Transport. Construction of the NLR is planned to be carried out from 2018 to 2022. The estimated volume of traffic at completion is 24 million tons. Initially, the highway was supposed to be laid by 2015, but due to the lack of a budget solution, the project completion dates dates were repeatedly postponed. In February 2017, the construction was announced to be completed in 2023. The project cost was estimated at 239 billion Rubles.
History
The Salekhard–Igarka Railway was built between 1947 and 1953. It was not completed, although parts remained in use for many years. The railway included a ferry over the Ob River and, in winter, used seasonal tracks laid on the ice. After the railway west of Korotchaevo became unusable, the Yamal Railway Company was founded in 2003 and new road construction was planned. In 2005, the development of industry and transport in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Ural Federal District spurred the creation of the Ural Industrial-Ural Polar project; the name Northern Latitudinal Railway first appeared. In 2006, the open joint-stock company Corporation Ural Industrial-Ural Polar was established to implement the project. Since 2008, the project has been included in Russia's Strategy for the Development of Railway Transport. It includes:
The Salekhard-Nadym line received preliminary approval in 2010. The line used reinforced concrete sleepers, in violation of permafrost construction standards. In November of that year, a company was founded to oversee the railway's construction and operation. In July 2011, Deutsche Bahn and the Ural Industrial-Ural Polar corporation signed a cooperative agreement on the project. In September of that year, the Ministry of Finance ruled that the Ural Industrial-Ural Polar project was too costly to implement. On September 1, 2011, the YNAO began construction of a bridge over the Nadym River. In December, the Czech company OHL ZS agreed to invest €1.95 billion in construction of the railway. An agreement was signed with Czech banks which provided €1.5 billion for construction. It was announced in February 2014 that the design and estimate documentation for the Salekhard-Nadym section and approaches to the bridge across the Ob River in the Salekhard area was ready, and Gazprom and Russian Railways had included funds for the reconstruction of existing railway sections. The entire project was approved in March 2015, including the Konosh-Chum-Labytnangi section. It was estimated that the railway would carry up to 23 million tons of cargo per year. On May 1 of that year, a station was opened in Novy Urengoy. On September 12, 2015, the automobile portion of the 14 billion, bridge over the Nadym River was opened. Although the railway portion of the bridge was expected to be completed in 2016, in December 2015 the YNAO government opted to implement the Bovanenkovo-Sabetta railway project instead. In March 2016, the construction of second tracks on the Tobolsk–Surgut–Korotchaevo section of the Sverdlovsk railway was proposed for the following year. On October 19, 2016, Russian Railways and the YNAO government signed an agreement for the NLR's construction. On May 11, 2018, Transport Minister M. Sokolov, Russian Railways director general Oleg Belozerov and YNAO head D. Kobylkin laid a time capsule in honor of the start of construction of a bridge across the Ob River, the first key part of the NLR. Belozerov said, "Today we not only give a symbolic start to the construction of a bridge across the Ob, but we are also opening a new stage in the history of the development of Russian transport infrastructure ... The Northern Latitudinal Railway will change the picture of transportation in the whole country".
Overview of construction impact
Russia has the largest known natural gas reserves, with about 25% of the world's total and has the eighth greatest amount of proven oil reserves. The largest reserves are in the Yamal Peninsula, more than 90% of Russia's natural gas being produced in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The region also accounts for 12% of Russia's oil production. The Northern Latitudinal Railway will facilitate the shipping of oil and gas. With the Arctic Ocean soon to be almost completely ice-free in summer and availability of Northern Sea Route, the railway will also help speed up the development of the country's Northern Sea Route infrastructure. The railroad will make conditions open to high-tech processing facilities on the Yamal Peninsula. The railline will remove infrastructure limitations by forging transport links between Yamal and European Russia's industrial facilities and ports. It will also free up capacity on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and connect the Yamal Peninsula to the national and international rail network. this railway will connect the two northernmost railways in the world; Norilsk railway and Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line. it will also pave the way for connecting two navigable rivers in Siberia Ob River and Yenisei.
