Russia โขCancelsโค $644 Billionโฃ Railway Project to โคchina
MOSCOW – Russia has deemed the โplanned Northern Siberian Railway (Sevsib), a project intended to connect Russia โขto China, “unfeasible” due toโข prohibitiveโค costs, according to a report Wednesday from Kommersant, citing a source familiar with the discussions.
The โrailway wouldโ haveโ stretched approximately 2,000 kilometers from Nizhnevartovsk in Russia’s โคKhanty-Mansi autonomousโค district โtoโ รrรผmqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, linking โcities like Beliy Yar and Ust-Ilimsk.โ A โฃsecond โฃcomponent would have created a newโ rail entry point into Chinaโ in the Altai โคregion.
Deputy Prime โคMinister Vitaly Savelyev reportedly informed President โขVladimirโฃ Putin of the โdecision in a โคletter.Constructionโ estimates reached around โข50 trillion โrubles โข($644 billion) due to โขtheโข challenging terrain along the route, the kommersant source said.
The cancellation followsโ Putin’s 2023 โorder โfor a formal feasibility assessment of the Sevsib project as part of the long-term advancement โstrategy for the Siberian Federalโฃ District throughโฃ 2035.
russian Railways’ (RZhD) investment program has โฃalso been significantly reduced and will not โคexceed 1 trillion rubles โ($12.9 billion)โ in 2026.
Supporters of the railway had argued โitโฃ would alleviate pressure โฃon theโ Eastern Polygon network, โconnectโฃ the Trans-Siberian Railway with the Northern โคSea Route, and provide a new export corridor for coal. However, expansion ofโข the Eastern Polygon itself hasโข slowed โฃdue to cuts โขin โขRZhDโข spending.
The Sevsib project is not the only major rail undertaking facing delays. The Transportation Ministry announcedโฃ in 2023 a postponement of the 700-kilometer Northern Latitudinal Railway to 2027-2031.
Pavel Ivankin, head ofโข the โNational Research Center for Transportation โand Infrastructure,โข told Kommersant โ that Russia ultimately needs Sevsib to support cargo flows for the Northern Sea Route. He described the 50-trillion-ruble โคpriceโ estimate โas “realistic,” adding that costs coudl increase with detailed engineering studies.
