Kotlas — Kozhva — Vorkuta railway line is a part of the North Pechora railway (since 1959 as part of the Northern Railway). The construction of the highway played an important role in supplying the country with fuel from the newly formed Vorkuta coal complex, especially during the occupation of Donbass during the Great Patriotic War. In the 1930s, Lentransproekt (since 1951 — Lengiprotrans) developed a project for the southern section of Konosha — Kotlas.
In 1936–1937, an expedition of the institute carried out preliminary surveys to select the direction of the line. As a result, the position of the entire route of the North Pechora Main Line was clarified: it passed from Vorkuta through Inta and Kotlas towards Konosha and had a total length of 1,546 km.
On December 28, 1941, temporary train traffic was opened. The first echelon of Pechora coal was sent from Vorkuta to Moscow. In 1947 the line was put into permanent operation.
In the period 1945–1955, the Department of Signaling and Communication established a semi-automatic blocking with traffic light signals, as well as automatic locomotive signaling and hitchhiking on sections of the highway.
