myaroslav
Image courtesy of Hal Cooper - by © 2003 J. Craig Thorpe commissioned by Cooper Consulting Co. for Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski. This wishful thinking picture of proposed tunnel between Asia and America is circulating over many social networks. Since 19th century every few years appears more or less news breaking proposal on topic. It happened last time when Trump approved Alaska-Canada line which doesn't show much progress since. What are the real plans at the #1520mm side of the straight? The official map of proposed developments created around 2010 is full of colored lines. But not so much had been actually done, marked with yellow circles. The only large success was finishing the route to Yakutsk. It had confirmed the possibility of railway construction in the permafrost and revived the idea of extending the line to Magadan. But being longer than previous line in mountainous unpopulated areas it must be more expensive and bringing smaller impact. Considering general interest in the eastern direction (still poorly enforced by economy) I guess it may be constructed in 30-50 years, but not in the upcoming decades, thus pushing the Alaska line to the next century. The second significant achievement are the lines in Yamal peninsula where natural gas is recovered intensively. Both projects are lacking large bridges - over Lena to lay last mile to Yakutsk and over Ob in Salekhard to connect networks. Their construction is being constantly delayed due to the lack of funds. 'Strategy' lines consist of two small sections, one around Ukraine built after the beginning of conflict in 2014 and another connecting new sea ports at Baltic sea, as well as unplanned infamous Crimean bridge which attracted much funding from other projects. Two coal-hauling lines in the East - to Kyzyl and Elga coalfields were built as private lines, but both had balanced at the edge of closure for some years. I could have missed some local projects such as Moscow commuter service development. What can be expected in the next years? Considering general economy backlash, I would expect just a few projects in the next 10-15 years. Two bridges in Siberia would eventually be built. And, considering growing amounts of trade with China and Asia generally, different projects of enforcing the eastbound and southeast bound lines. Speaking about mind-blowing projects it seems more probable to find progress in connection with Japan over Sakhalin. The idea of tunnel under Nevelsky straight have already reached preliminary design stage, and it was shown that project would become sustainable only by carrying goods from Japan. It's somewhat surprising, but much more intensive #1520mm network development is already happening in the Central Asia where thousands of kilometers have been constructed. This story is interesting from many sides, and I would make posts on it a bit later. #lineside #map
