In the post-war years "Lentransproekt" (since 1951. - "Lengiprotrans") developed the project of the Salekhard - Nadym - Igarka railway line, now known as the Transpolar Mainline. The road was conceived as a backup for the Northern Sea Route to connect the Soviet Arctic with the country's railway network. In 1953, construction was suspended. In the 1970s, the institute resumed work on certain sections of the Polar Mainline.
In the 2000s, a new stage of design and survey work began within the framework of the Ural Industrial - Ural Polar complex program to create a mineral resource base for industry in the Northern and Polar Urals. The core of the transport component was to be the Polunochnoe - Obskaya - Salekhard and Salekhard - Nadym railway lines. Taking into account the experience of work in this region, Lengiprotrans was appointed as the main designer.
In July 2008, survey work began along the Polunochnoe - Obskaya - Salekhard line. The Obskaya - Salekhard section ran along the Transpolar highway.
The survey techniques were similar to those of the Salekhard - Nadym line, but the area of work turned out to be much more complicated - almost complete absence of a road network and nearby settlements, dense forest, an abundance of swamps.
Spring - summer 2009 saw the bulk of design work on both lines. At the same time, it became necessary to change the route of the Polunochnoye - Obskaya - Salekhard line at a number of sections at the request of local authorities and to bypass newly discovered mineral deposits.
At the end of 2009, a positive conclusion was received on the Polunochnoe - Obskaya - Salekhard railway line. However, due to lack of funding, the project was postponed.
