Arctic Railway

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Route variants

The Arctic Railway is a Finnish - Norwegian project, which is also called the Arctic Corridor in the planning phase in the countries mentioned.

background

Due to global warming , the sea route along the north Siberian coast and through the Bering Strait , the so-called Northeast Passage , is gaining in importance. This connection between Europe and the Far East is 40% shorter than that through the Suez Canal . A railway to the north could thus become a link in a new global logistics route. It would be the first railway line from a member state of the European Union to a port in the Arctic Ocean . The project would be an extension of the construction of a railway tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki . Those interested in such a connection include the oil and gas industry, fishing and forestry, and tourism. For the latter, interesting combination options with Hurtigruten would arise .

Planning status

The Finnish and Norwegian Ministry of Transport have in 2017 a study of cost estimation for a rail link between the northern Peak of the Finnish railway network and a northern Norwegian port of Norconsult can develop. The variants were tested:

The study favors the route from Rovaniemi to the ice-free deep-water port of Kirkenes. It would be 465 km long and would be built in Finnish broad gauge with 1524 mm. The costs are estimated at 2.9 billion euros , with 0.9 billion euros being accounted for by the relatively short but very mountainous Norwegian section. Allegedly, the People's Republic of China is interested in getting into the project financially as part of its One Belt, One Road policy .

Under Finnish leadership, the environmental issues associated with the project and its implications for Sami culture in general and reindeer herding in particular were examined by the end of 2018 - the Sami Parliament was therefore involved, it took a negative position - and a timetable was drawn up. The line would not be able to go into operation until the 2030s at the earliest.

The working group came to the conclusion that the project was uneconomical. The annual transport volume would have to be at least 2.5 million tons. Tourism in Lapland could possibly benefit from the railroad. But it would not be enough to finance the route project.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Arctic Railway (Railway Revue International)
  2. ^ A b Martin Breum: Finland plans "Arctic Corridor" linking China to Europe '. In: EU Observer . February 28, 2018, accessed November 5, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Study on the Arctic rail line completed: Kirkenes routing to be examined further. (PDF) Jernbane Directorate, March 22, 2018, accessed on November 5, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Jäämeren radan rakentaminen menossa jäihin - hanke ei kannata. In: yle.fi. February 11, 2019, accessed February 25, 2019 (Finnish).
  5. ↑ Sara Langh, Carmela Walder: Ishavsbanan läggs på is - Working group: Orealistiskt att bygga järnväg mellan Rovaniemi och Kirkenes. In: svenska.yle.fi. February 11, 2019, accessed February 25, 2019 (Swedish).
  6. ↑ Andrea Seliger: Uneconomical: Railway plan Rovaniemi-Kirkenes is put on hold. In: Arctic Circle Portal. February 12, 2019, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  7. ^ Arctic Ocean railway plan put on ice. In: Railwaygazette. February 20, 2019, accessed February 20, 2019 .