The third stage of expansion of the BAM and Transsib increased by 1 trillion rubles – up to 3.7 trillion rubles

The government has agreed and will soon approve the passport for the third stage of expansion of the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway from 180 million tons, achieved by the end of 2024, to 270 million tons in 2032. Since previous estimates, the project has risen in price by 1 trillion rubles – from 2.7 trillion to 3.7 trillion rubles. Additional funds will be used for activities that shippers insisted on, asking for more attention to be paid to the Trans-Siberian Railway and approaches to Primorye. As a result, the passport included such expensive construction projects as bypasses of Khabarovsk, the Smolyaninovo-Nakhodka section and the development of the Nakhodka junction, as well as the construction of a second track on the Komsomolsk-Volochaevka section.

At a joint meeting of the presidium of the government commission on transport and the State Council commission in the areas of “Transport” and “Energy” chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on March 27, it was decided to approve the passport for the third stage of expansion of the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway presented by the Ministry of Transport. About it reported Mr. Belousov’s secretariat, adding that the passport will be approved by the government in the near future.

From the draft passport, which Kommersant saw, it follows that the government and Russian Railways OJSC met the shippers halfway. On the one hand, the total estimate of BAM-3 will be 3.7 trillion rubles. instead of the previously called 2.7 trillion rubles, on the other hand, this additional 1 trillion rubles. will go to events that shippers insisted on implementing. JSC Russian Railways told Kommersant that the passport was formed “taking into account the multilateral needs and wishes of all participants in the railway transportation market and allows us to continue to implement the instructions” of the president on the priority development of the railway in the east of the country.

The second stage of expansion of the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway, which is due to be completed this year, will be followed by a third with an expansion of carrying capacity from 180 million to 210 million tons by 2030 and to 270 million tons by 2032. The total period of project implementation is until 2035.

A separate part of it includes the creation of backups for the Severomuysky, Kuznetsovsky and Kodarsky tunnels and a bridge over the Amur. Ruslan Baysarov and Gazprombank plan to build these BTS-Most facilities through an EPCF contract, which assumes that the contractor undertakes construction and financing, and after ten years Russian Railways OJSC pays him (see “Kommersant” dated September 12, 2023). The remaining facilities are being built through the investment program of Russian Railways. Proposals for tariff solutions to finance it are being developed, while the President’s order specifically stipulates that their impact on the condition of shippers and the price of goods should be taken into account. The state, for its part, will indefinitely extend the preferential property tax rate of 1.6% for public roads and introduce a number of changes to legislation (see “Kommersant” dated February 12).

As Kommersant already wrote, in earlier editions of the passport the main emphasis in both work and investments was on the BAM, to which it was planned to allocate 90% of the entire project estimate (see “Kommersant” dated January 29). However, now the situation has changed.

Activities on the BAM in the section from Taishet to Tynda, as previously proposed by Russian Railways, will cost 1.1 trillion rubles: the expensive second Severomuysky and Kodarsky tunnels should be built on this section as part of agreements with BTS-Most. From Tynda to Vanino, where the construction of the second Kuznetsovsky tunnel and bridge over the Amur is planned, the cost of the measures has increased from 1.3 trillion to 1.58 trillion rubles.

At the same time, the entire Trans-Siberian Railway previously accounted for only 260.5 billion rubles. investments. Now this amount has increased to 613 billion rubles. due to construction projects that shippers insisted on, such as a bypass of Khabarovsk, the development of the Nakhodka hub, and the construction of a bypass of the Smolyaninovo-Nakhodka section.

For these activities, according to the project passport, JSC Russian Railways will carry out feasibility studies and design and survey work for 32.1 billion rubles in 2024–2029, and construction work for 426.4 billion rubles in 2030–2034.

Also, in accordance with the wishes of shippers, it is proposed to significantly expand the capacity of the Komsomolsk-Volochaevka section by 2035 by building 288.4 km of a second track there. This will cost 355 billion rubles, and construction is planned to begin in 2031.

Shippers are generally pleased with the results. “Yes, consensus on the development of BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway has been reached,” says a Kommersant source among the companies participating in the discussion. “Additional measures worth 1 trillion rubles. will make it possible to expand the limiting areas on the approaches to the ports of the Far Eastern basin and ensure a carrying capacity of 270 million tons per year.” Another interlocutor believes that it is important to further look at the tariff burden, and it would be good if the president’s order to take into account its impact on the economy of shippers was taken into account.

Natalya Skorlygina