Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in video broadcast mode during the VI Congress of railway workers, solemnly launched the working movement on the bridge over the Tuloma – from the Exit station to the Lavna port on the western shore of the Kola Bay in the Murmansk region.
"The Murmansk transport hub is one of our most important support hubs in the Arctic, and we will definitely increase its capacity as well. According to experts, seamless broad–gauge railway communication of the "1520" standard will be provided on the entire route - from Murmansk to the Iranian Bandar Abbas. Cargo delivery from Murmansk to Mumbai will take about fifteen days. Compared with traditional routes, travel time will be reduced four times," Vladimir Putin said.
The issue of activating the Murmansk transport hub development project has been repeatedly raised by Governor Andrey Chibis. As a result of a number of working meetings, the support of President Vladimir Putin was received, all decisions were made on the completion of the railway, and work on water and electricity supply is underway in parallel. A powerful logistics hub is being created on the western shore of the Kola Bay, a strategically important part of the Northern Sea Route.
The event was attended by the Governor of the Murmansk region Andrey Chibis. The head of the region thanked Vladimir Putin and the Government of the Russian Federation for their support in the implementation of a large-scale project, which is of high importance not only for the Arctic, but also for the country as a whole.
"This project is one of the most significant for the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route. Thanks to the support, the integrated development of the Murmansk transport hub has become a priority. You remember how we flew around it at the end of July as part of your visit to Murmansk and the fact that it will already be launched today demonstrates the impressive amount of work that was completed by the builders in less than a year. The Murmansk transport hub will allow increasing cargo turnover through the port of Murmansk to 110 million tons by 2027," Governor Andrey Chibis said in an address to Vladimir Putin.
"The Murmansk transport hub continues to develop along with the ports of the North-West and is in demand among shippers as a direct access to the Northern Sea Route and directly to the world ocean. Private companies have been working on this project since 2014, but in December last year its readiness was only 55%. With the support of the government of the Murmansk Region, we completed the construction ahead of schedule, and today we are ready to open working traffic on the railway line from the Exit station to the Lavna terminal," said Oleg Belozerov, General Director and Chairman of the Management Board of Russian Railways.
The installation of the spans of the railway bridge over the Tuloma River, the largest engineering structure on the Sevodny–Lavna railway line under construction, was completed at the end of November 2023. The bridge consists of eight spans and two coastal overpasses with a total length of 1,313 m. The financing is carried out at the expense of the federal budget. The construction of the short-range railway approaches to the port of Lavna is carried out under the supervision of the state customer of the Federal State Institution "Rostransmodernization".
"The near railway approaches to the port of Lavna are one of our key projects. The builders approached the launch of the labor movement on the site after 10 months from the start of construction. Almost 49.7 km of track was laid, 137 artificial structures were built, including 11 bridges and overpasses," said Igor Gurov, General Director of the Federal State Institution "Rostransmodernization".
The project "Integrated development of the Murmansk transport Hub" is being implemented in accordance with the Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation.
The subcontractor of the construction works was Yamaltransstroy JSC.
/ Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region /