THE Trans-Siberian Railway, Russia's main artery traversing the Eurasian continent, is getting a refit, reports the Japan Times.
Improvements are rapidly being made to the world's longest railway at 9,300 kilometres, as advantages are thrown up by covid scare with air and sea freight capacity making rail freight more competitive.
In late May, construction was underway in Andrianovskaya, southwest of Irkutsk, one of the major cities in eastern Siberia, to shave mountainsides in order to straighten the curve of the railway line.
The work is part of a project to increase the average speed of the trains from 60 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour.
'Improving speed is indispensable for service expansion. But we also need to reduce the risk of derailments, which tend to happen as trains get faster and longer, ??said Sergei Fursov, an engineer for the eastern Siberian branch of Russian Railways.
The series of improvements will see the number of freight carriages increased by 20 per cent, reaching a maximum length of one kilometre. Railway operators are also working to resolve long-standing problems such as train delays and cargo damage.
Construction work is underway on the Baikal-Amur Mainline's Baikalsky tunnel in the mountains near Severobaykalsk in the Russian Republic of Buryatia on May 26.
Construction work is underway on the Baikal-Amur Mainline's Baikalsky tunnel in the mountains near Severobaykalsk in the Russian Republic of Buryatia on May 26.
The total freight transport capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which traverses eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East north of and running parallel to the TSR, was 144 million tons in 2020, marking a 50 per cent increase from 2012.
During the Covid crisis, the number of passenger flights connecting Asia and Europe dropped significantly, which resulted in precipitous declines in air cargo capacity. As sea freight charges have also risen, transport capacity connecting east and west has been under strain.
With the timetable of the Trans-Siberian Railway suffering from overcrowding, high expectations have been placed on work to completely remodel the Baikal-Amur Mainline as a bypass to expand freight capacity. With a view to exporting coal, oil, and timber along the line to Asia, construction work will proceed toward complete double-tracking by the end of 2024.
The Baikalsky tunnel, the second-longest railway tunnel in Russia with a total length of under seven kilometres, has been constructed in the mountains two hours from Severobaykalsk in Buryatia. The double-tracking work has reached the final stages there.
Vladimir Goncharov, deputy director in the department of construction preparation, said the expansion is aimed at supporting exports of resources especially to countries in Asia.
'We will support the expansion of resource exports to China, Japan and South Korea. It will also be useful for the development of areas along the railway line.'
Among companies in Asian countries looking to benefit from the service expansions are two Japanese logistic firms. Hankyu Hanshin Express Co. and Toyo Trans Inc. have begun regular freight services with ships departing from Toyama New Port in Toyama Prefecture and docking at Vladivostok, the largest Russian port on the Pacific.
The two firms ostensibly operate separate services but use the same shipping freight and train line. The cargo is transshipped to the railway in Vladivostok, bonded until arrival in Poland and transported throughout Europe.
SeaNews Turkey
Improvements are rapidly being made to the world's longest railway at 9,300 kilometres, as advantages are thrown up by covid scare with air and sea freight capacity making rail freight more competitive.
In late May, construction was underway in Andrianovskaya, southwest of Irkutsk, one of the major cities in eastern Siberia, to shave mountainsides in order to straighten the curve of the railway line.
The work is part of a project to increase the average speed of the trains from 60 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour.
'Improving speed is indispensable for service expansion. But we also need to reduce the risk of derailments, which tend to happen as trains get faster and longer, ??said Sergei Fursov, an engineer for the eastern Siberian branch of Russian Railways.
The series of improvements will see the number of freight carriages increased by 20 per cent, reaching a maximum length of one kilometre. Railway operators are also working to resolve long-standing problems such as train delays and cargo damage.
Construction work is underway on the Baikal-Amur Mainline's Baikalsky tunnel in the mountains near Severobaykalsk in the Russian Republic of Buryatia on May 26.
Construction work is underway on the Baikal-Amur Mainline's Baikalsky tunnel in the mountains near Severobaykalsk in the Russian Republic of Buryatia on May 26.
The total freight transport capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which traverses eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East north of and running parallel to the TSR, was 144 million tons in 2020, marking a 50 per cent increase from 2012.
During the Covid crisis, the number of passenger flights connecting Asia and Europe dropped significantly, which resulted in precipitous declines in air cargo capacity. As sea freight charges have also risen, transport capacity connecting east and west has been under strain.
With the timetable of the Trans-Siberian Railway suffering from overcrowding, high expectations have been placed on work to completely remodel the Baikal-Amur Mainline as a bypass to expand freight capacity. With a view to exporting coal, oil, and timber along the line to Asia, construction work will proceed toward complete double-tracking by the end of 2024.
The Baikalsky tunnel, the second-longest railway tunnel in Russia with a total length of under seven kilometres, has been constructed in the mountains two hours from Severobaykalsk in Buryatia. The double-tracking work has reached the final stages there.
Vladimir Goncharov, deputy director in the department of construction preparation, said the expansion is aimed at supporting exports of resources especially to countries in Asia.
'We will support the expansion of resource exports to China, Japan and South Korea. It will also be useful for the development of areas along the railway line.'
Among companies in Asian countries looking to benefit from the service expansions are two Japanese logistic firms. Hankyu Hanshin Express Co. and Toyo Trans Inc. have begun regular freight services with ships departing from Toyama New Port in Toyama Prefecture and docking at Vladivostok, the largest Russian port on the Pacific.
The two firms ostensibly operate separate services but use the same shipping freight and train line. The cargo is transshipped to the railway in Vladivostok, bonded until arrival in Poland and transported throughout Europe.
SeaNews Turkey
