Russia Studies Rail Link to China via Altai

The Ministry of Natural Resources may connect the evaluation of the China railway project via Altai.

Consensus

The Russian government is assessing the feasibility of the Transaltai Railway project.
The project involves a 55-kilometer rail segment between Kazakhstan and Mongolia, near the Altai Republic border with China's Xinjiang region.
The initiative is being considered in response to a presidential directive from July 27.
The goal is to compete with the Trans-Caspian International Transit Route (TMTM) and offer an alternative to southern maritime routes between Europe and Asia.
The Ministry of Transport has proposed involving the Ministry of Natural Resources to assess environmental constraints.
The project is being discussed within the Russia-China transport subcommittee.
Four route variants are currently under consideration, with lengths ranging from 825 to 1123 km, including 228 km in China.
The project is at the pre-Feasibility Study (pre-TEO) stage.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TMTM) was launched in 2017 and transported 4.12 million tons in 2025, including 77,000 TEU containers. — interfax
The project was previously considered in the 2000s as a gas pipeline named 'Altai,' but was delayed due to pricing disagreements, technical complexity, and the need to cross the Ukok Plateau nature reserve. — interfax
In 2021, Russian Railways (RZD) considered the railway idea, initially concerned about tunnel costs, but noted that elevated construction might offset expenses. — interfax
In 2023, the project was included in the Siberian Federal District's socio-economic development strategy as part of the North-Siberian Corridor, but was later abandoned due to a cost of 50 trillion rubles. — interfax
The initial proposed capacity was 30 million tons, mainly coal from Kuzbass, Novosibirsk Oblast, and Khakassia. — interfax
The project may be approaching the pre-TEO stage, which evaluates overall feasibility and investment justification. — kommersant