DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAY TRANSPORT CORRIDORS IN ASIAN RUSSIA

Abstract

The paper provides an economic and geographical analysis of the transport infrastructure of Asian Russia, primarily of the railway and port infrastructure. The importance of rail transport for Russian freight turnover is highlighted as well as the current problem areas of the country's railways. The relevance of an economic and geographical study into the development of Asian Russia's railway infrastructure is determined by the country's shifting its cooperation vector "to the east". The paper lists all railway border crossings of the Siberian-Far Eastern section of the state border. It examines railway transport corridors of Asian Russia, both those currently in place and railway lines having the potential to become such corridors. A detailed analysis covers the development prospects for the Trans-Siberian, Baikal-Amur, Amur-Yakutsk, North Siberian, Pacific, and Northern Latitudinal Railways, the railway to Magadan, and transport corridors through the bordering countries: Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The paper analyzes the projects of planned railway lines in Asian Russia, discusses their route options, advantages, and disadvantages. Specific projects for the construction and modernization of railway (including border crossings) and port infrastructure are studied. In view of the emerging problems of the Eastern Operating Domain of Russian railways, alternative routes for transporting Kuznetsk coal, which is the most common cargo in Asian Russia, are proposed. The author's recommendations are visualized on a map of the railway infrastructure of Northern Eurasia. The priority and feasibility of the development of transport corridors and railway projects in Asian Russia, including those proposed in this paper, are discussed.