The construction of a third track on the Slyudyanka 1 – Slyudyanka 2 section of the TransSiberian Railway in East Siberia is to start in 2022. The project has been approved by the state technical and environmental expertise department, Russian Railways said in a statement.
The third track located near Lake Baikal will be 2.4 km long. The project envisages building two railway bridges, treatment facilities and modular buildings to support the functioning of the infrastructure.
The Slyudyanka 1 – Slyudyanka 2 section leads to the most complicated and busy section of the TransSiberian Railway, where heavy trains need additional locomotives to push them over a long mountain pass. The new track will allow of returning support locomotives without occupying the track used for mainline traffic.