Private link completes transit corridor

Deep in the valleys of Karelia on the borders of Russia and Finland, contractors are putting the finishing touches to the first privately promoted railway to be built in Russia for over 80 years. It is anticipated that trains will start running on the 126 km route between Kochkoma and Ledmozero toward the end of 1994. Initially promoted as a development railway to tap the mineral resources from the western part of the Karelian republic, the so-called North-West Rail Link is now envisaged as a transit route between northeast Russia and Finnish ports on the Gulf of Bothnia. The new private railway plans to operate its own trains using existing Finnish and Russian railway rolling stock and hiring diesel locomotives from the Russian railway as required and will have responsibility for operating the existing line between Ledmozero and the border.