Transpolar railway project: history and modernity

The socio-economic development of the Russian Arctic is impossible without the creation of an integrated transport infrastructure for the region, including water (sea and river), land (highway and railroad), and air lines of communication. For more than a century and a half, experts, politicians, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts have been trying to solve this problem. Dozens of future transportation projects have been presented. The vast territories of the Polar Urals, Northern Siberia, the Far East, the Russian coast of the Arctic Ocean, and the channels of the Siberian rivers have been explored. Thousands of miles of communication lines have been laid, but a single transport network for the Russian Arctic has not been created so far. The Transpolar Railway, the all-season line linking the existing Trans-Siberian railway with its branches, the Siberian roads, the Northern Sea Route, the navigable Siberian rivers, and regional airports, can become the core of this regions’ transport infrastructure. The completion of this ambitious project will increase the capacity of the Russian segment of the Asia-Europe transport corridor, expand the socioeconomic importance of the Russian Arctic, and strengthen the strategic importance of Russia.