Premier Mishustin to Review the Northern Latitudinal Railway Project

Photo: Gruzevich Anatoliy/GeoPhoto.ru

Premier Mishustin to Review the Northern Latitudinal Railway Project

One of Russia’s major infrastructure projects in the High North, the Northern Latitudinal Railway (NLR), is nearing its implementation phase. As Vice-Premier Yuri Borisov stated at a meeting with the governors of the Urals Federal District (an administrative entity encompassing several regions east of Urals, including Yamal), the project stakeholders should come up with a joint position as regards the investment plan for the NLR by 1 November -- the date when the project is scheduled to be presented to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The NLR, a 707-kilometer-long railway line to be built in Yamal worth approximately 200 billion rubles (USD 2.8 billion), will be at least partially funded through the infrastructural loan mechanism introduced in July 2021. The Yamal Government has already applied for an infrastructural loan of 50 billion rubles, which will be used to fund the construction of a bridge across the Ob River. The remainder of the sum is expected to be provided by private investors.

The NLR project is of major logistical importance to the Russian Arctic. First, the NLR will link the eastern part of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District with the western one, which will enhance the transport connectivity in the region. Second, linking the Northern Railway to the Sverdlovsk Railway will considerably improve the connection between regional lines and the mainland railway system of Russia.

Third, the NLR has the potential to connect the country’s railways with the Northern Sea Route in future -- a crucial step for large industries of the Urals Federal District. As part of the NLR 2 project, the NLR may be extended to the port of Sabetta, and if a decision is made to build an additional railway line to Dudinka, an Arctic port in the Krasnoyarsk Kray, it will be linked up with the Norilsk Railroad, the largest isolated railway of Russia.
Alexander Stotskiy
16 September 2021
Arctic Today