Prospects for the Coal-Line Transport Introduction in Russia
The research featured an economic-geographical analysis of the main problems of Russian domestic coal transportation. The problems are related to the ultracontinental position of the main coal-mining regions, railroad workload, and overpriced freight rates. The paper focuses on the advantages of coal-line transport as an alternative to railroads. The author also describes positive aspects of water-coal fuel and summarizes related domestic studies. The article introduces a coal-line project that links Kuzbass and the Urals, its deployment factors, prospective consumers, and design capacity. The route runs from Novokuznetsk to Yekaterinburg with branches to the north and south. The route can be divided into stages, e.g. up to Novosibirsk and to Omsk. Each stage can become final destination, if needed. The prospects of coal-line extension in the western and eastern directions are considered.