In the 1970s, a new stage in the development of fields in the north of Western Siberia began in the country. However, a serious problem was the lack of sustainable transport links in the region. The construction of the railway was seen as the most profitable solution.
By order of the Ministry of Nonferrous Metallurgy of the USSR, Lengiprotrans developed a project of railway approaches to the Norilsk Mining and Processing Plant (GOK, since 1989 a part of MMC Norilsk Nickel) for the export of finished products. Along the way, the road was supposed to ensure the delivery of materials and equipment for the development of oil fields in the north of the Tyumen region and rich reserves of apatite-magnetite ores in the Maimecha-Kotuiskaya province in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
The Institute has developed a feasibility study (FS) for the construction of a railway in three directions: Yenisei, Surgut, Salekhard. Based on the results of design studies, the Surgut option (Surgut - Korotchaevo - Norilsk) with a length of 1531 km was selected. The survey covered a vast range from the city of Urengoy on the Pur River to the city of Norilsk on the Yenisei River.
In 1982, Lengiprotrans designed the general layout of the external transport of Norilsk GOK. In 1983, a new feasibility study was prepared for the construction of the Korotchaevo - Igarka - Norilsk railway, according to which the route approached the Russkoye and Russkorechenskoye oil fields.
At that time, the construction of the line was not implemented for a number of economic reasons. Nevertheless, at present, the issue of project implementation is gaining relevance again. The resumption of the construction of individual sections is planned within the framework of the "Strategy for the development of railway transport in the Russian Federation until 2030" approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.
