Railway line Vorkuta - Yugorskiy Shar

Project Status: 
Железнодорожная линия Воркута — Югорский Шар

Vorkuta - Yugorskiy Shar is one of the northernmost objects of Lengiprotrans, completely located outside the Arctic Circle.

In the early 1930s, large reserves of coking coal were discovered in the Vorkuta region. In this regard, it was decided to build a railway line Vorkuta - Yugorsky Shar, which provided the shortest exit for exporting Vorkuta coals to the Barents Sea and further in the direction of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.

The northern terminus of the route is the Yugorskiy Shar Strait, where a port was designed at the Khabarovo station for transshipment of coal onto steamships. From Yugorskiy Shara the road went in a southeastern direction between the Khaipudyr Bay of the Barents Sea and the Pai-Khoy ridge and further along the foothills of the polar Urals, on the right slope of the Karatayki River valley.

In 1932-1934 Lenzhiz carried out surveys on the track. In 1935, the design was completed by Lentransproekt (since 1951 - Lengiprotrans), which became part of "Lenzhiz" in the same year.

The line passed through the permafrost region of the tundra, where there were no settlements. The prospectors were ferried to the place of work by steamer from Arkhangelsk to Yugorskiy Shara within 25 days. The movement of prospecting parties along the route was carried out on deer. Because of the heavy equipment, it was possible to walk no more than 15 km per day. The duration of the work of each survey party for the season ranged from 12 to 50 days.

The line was designed according to lightweight standards, with a normal gauge, steam-powered, with the expectation of passing 14 pairs of freight trains per day. All building materials, except for stone and sand, had to be delivered by sea and through the tundra. This predetermined the construction of artificial structures made of reinforced concrete and stone. The buildings were designed with wood. Due to the freezing of watercourses, reservoirs were provided, created with the help of dams.

Subsequently, it was decided to abandon the construction of the Vorkuta - Yugorsky Shar line. For the export of Vorkuta coal, the Vorkuta - Kozhva - Kotlas railway was built.