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Plans for new transport route unveiled to link Pacific with Atlantic

By 0 and 0 and 0
23 March 2015

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Cargo traffic on the railways is expected to grow by 56 million tonnes in 16 years. Picture: TraveLiving

Plans have been unveiled for an ambitious new transport route through Russia with a mega road and high-speed rail network to link Asia with Europe.

At a meeting of the Russian Academy of Science, the head of the Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin presented the idea for the Trans-Eurasian belt Development (TEPR).

Seen as a powerful and versatile transportation corridor it would join up to other networks and reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific, via the heart of Siberia and the Far East.

The project would see not only a new train network built alongside the Trans-Siberian Railway but the construction of major roads, pipelines for oil and gas, and the laying of facilities for electricity and water supplies.

Vladimir Yakunin

The head of the Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin presented the idea for the Trans-Eurasian belt Development (TEPR). Picture: ITAR-TASS

Mr Yakunin has been engaged in the development of the project with academic Gennady Osipov and the rector of Moscow State University, Viktor Sadovnichy.

During his presentation the head of the Russian Railways said that such a scheme was vital more than ever and would make Russia the new world centre for the creation and development of high-tech industries.

He also said that Western-style globalisation is no longer seen as an incentive but as a hindrance on the economic, scientific, moral and spiritual development of society.

He said: 'This is an inter-state, inter-civilization, project. It should be an alternative to the current (neo-liberal) model, which has caused a systemic crisis. The project should be turned into a world 'future zone', and it must be based on leading, not catching, technologies.'

The project aims to construct the mega transportation route to span the entire length of Russia, and link into existing networks in Europe and Asia. That would create the first ever modern route from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.

Trans-Siberia railway


Trans-Siberia railway


Trans-Siberia railway


Amur-Yakutsk Railway

'Basing on the new technology of high-speed rail transport we can build a new railway near the Trans-Siberian Railway with the opportunity to go to Chukotka and Bering Strait'. Pictures: kdavia.ru, Russian Railways, Krugobaikalskaya, Ministry of Transport and Roads of Yakutia

If the idea is successful, it is expected that could create 10 to 15 new industries, new cities and a huge number of new jobs, as well as further development of Siberia and the Far East. 

According to Mr Yakunin, TEPR could become the GOELRO of the 21st century, in reference to the large-scale electrification of Russia proposed and implemented by Lenin and Stalin between 1920 and 1935.

Talking about a rough estimate for the costs of the project he said that it will require trillions of dollars, but insisted the economic returns would outweigh these investments.

Viktor Sadovnichy, rector of the Moscow State University, said the network would help the Far East and Siberia feel more in touch with the rest of the world. He said: 'Recently I returned from Khabarovsk, where I met with rectors of universities of the Far East - about 100 of them in total.

'The main problem that we discussed was isolation. Up to 30 per cent of talented young people graduating from schools leave these regions.'

Road Kolyma


Road Kolyma


Road Kolyma


Road Kolyma

Kolyma motor road, goes through the Russian Far East and connects Magadan with the town of Nizhny Bestyakh in Yakutia. Pictures: Yakutia Info, Pavel Moiseenko, Anton Shelkovich

Vladimir Fortov, the Head of the Russian Academy of Science, said the project is 'very ambitious and expensive'.

But he added: 'It will solve many problems in the development of the vast region. It is connected with social programs, and new fields, new energy resources, and so on.

'The idea is that basing on the new technology of high-speed rail transport we can build a new railway near the Trans-Siberian Railway with the opportunity to go to Chukotka and Bering Strait and then to the American continent.'

Comments (60)

Skeptics beware. The plans and financing of the Bering Sea tunnel have already been arranged and approved by Russian, US & Canadian governments. The rails to Rio De Janeiro need 40 miles in the Darien Gap in Colombia. Russian track is wider than N American track so there will be duplicate mechanisms under train cars and engines so they can run on both tracks.
John Walsh, Ft Lauderdale, Florida
27/03/2015 13:03
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Russian Railway from Edinburgh, Scotland to Nome, Alaska has reached Yakutsk and now on to Magadan. The roads etc can be built adjacent to the tracks. The tunnels from Uelen, Siberia to Nome will be built in two 45 km & one 25km segment across the Big Diomede and Little Diomede islands. 64 miles. Bering Sea is only 85 feet deep.
John Walsh, Ft Lauderdale, Florida
27/03/2015 12:57
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Its a great idea and one that is inevitable, unless new technologies superseded ground transport. Few travelers or shipments would ever make the end-to-end trip, that's not the point. The 60 year old Interstate Highway System in the US has greatly altered and improved the nation's economic integration, linking he regions as railroads never could. Improving commerce along the whole zone of this proposal would be a great boon; linking currently isolated regions with developed corridors makes perfect sense economically as well as socially. I hope it gets going before I'm gone. I for one, would happily make he drive just for the scenery, let alone the magnificence of he enterprise.
Dan, San Francisco
27/03/2015 11:04
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I like the idea. Cross the Bering sea, but not with a bridge. Design and construct a large pipeline. Build pipeline in sections. Temporarily seal the ends of each section. Sink one section at a time to a predetermined depth by filling it with a certain amount of water. Once there fasten it to the sea bottom with cables. Sink the next section and connect it to the first one. Proceed until all the sections are connected and fastened. After all the section have been placed, the end sections can be pumped dry. The seal can then be removed and the next section can be pumped out and the seals removed.
Ron Homan, Irma, AB Canada
27/03/2015 07:47
4
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i love my nepal
arjun thapa , nepal/butwal
27/03/2015 06:56
1
1
Love the idea, but then stop first threthinign and attackin you nighbours with the atom bumb Putin.
Jan Johansen, Norway
27/03/2015 05:02
4
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"the current president of the USA won't even allow a buried pipeline to cross from Canada into the USA, even though it would mean more jobs, and a stronger economy - do people honestly believe he'd 'allow' a highway, even if both the house and senate of the country were for it?" (Carl, Erie, PA) Ah, a fine example of the brainwashed. First, it's been demonstrated that the estimated 2,000 jobs that it would create to build the KXL Pipeline are only temporary; once the pipeline was completed (an estimated 6 months or less) the long term jobs that the pipeline would provide are only about 50 positions. In addition, the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides the bulk of the fresh water for the Great Plains, would be greatly endangered by the KXL Pipeline. There have been repeated spills all over the nation as well as in Canada. I live in South Dakota and I have no desire to see my drinking water polluted.
Alan Seeger, Mission, SD USA
27/03/2015 04:33
2
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Excellent Plan!!!
Brian Proskin, Oshawa Ontario Canada
27/03/2015 03:38
7
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The proposed highway runs from London to New York. At sixty miles per hour, not stopping for hotels or restaurants, it would take eight miserable days. You could ride in a cruise ship between the two ports and save a significant amount of time, not to mention how much less expensive and grueling a luxury cruise would be than this trip. What would be the benefit? We already have highways that run to Alaska, and it's more economically viable to maintain contact with Nome via ships and planes. And let's not forget for a moment that in the present year we still do not have a bridge connecting England and France despite massive trade and tourism crossing between the Continent and the island of Great Britain. That would be a comparatively EASY bridge to build compared to one made to cross the Bering Strait. The entire idea is implausible.
Greg, Aurora, Colorado, USA
27/03/2015 03:11
4
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I would like to see it happen but I doubt it.
Clinton, wastelands of the PNW
27/03/2015 02:50
2
2
the current president of the USA won't even allow a buried pipeline to cross from Canada into the USA, even though it would mean more jobs, and a stronger economy - do people honestly believe he'd 'allow' a highway, even if both the house and senate of the country were for it?
carl, erie, pa
27/03/2015 01:44
4
8
That's just a proposal that is not likely to be accepted. The project is extremely costly and they don't mention how to bridge the Bering sea. Only building the bridge over there is, for now, still just infeasible idea.
Ognjen, Serbia
27/03/2015 00:53
5
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I think this is a crazy project of the Putin administration. After the rusian imperialism and hegemony implemented by tsars and rusian comunists system, Rusia want do continue spreading its power throughout one part of the world. They are allready road and railway structure in Rusia and Siberia. Let the rusian administration maintain , repair and improve them.
Jakes LAFITTE, Angelu EH France
26/03/2015 20:08
5
9
i would love to be a robber baron. How do I invest?
CA, sunshine state/ USA
26/03/2015 19:04
3
0
Yes, do it! I'll donate.
Tom, USA
26/03/2015 18:47
6
0

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