MYTH OR REALITY?
Is the idea of establishing the most appealing transport corridor of the new century feasible?
We put these questions to Mr. Stanislav Goncharenko, author of the articles we published on the project for an overland passageway between the Sakhalin Island, the mainland and Japan.
There is no doubt the idea is feasible, he said, for an Europe-Russia-Japan land corridor will ensure an expanded cargo turnover between Europe and Japan via the shortest route. It is capable of impelling force to the already powerful and progressive 
development of Siberia, the Far East and the Polar Regions as well as of many other parts of Russia, the Commonwealth States and Asian and European countries. This implies a general activation of science, innovative activities and manufacture.
The construction of a Europe-Russia-Japan land corridor would be of strategic importance not only because it would redistribute global cargo flows but it would also provide access to an area rich in minerals. At the same time, the scope of cargo traffic would expand, and there would be a boost in imports-exports and in the volume of domestic freight.
This will secure a maximum use of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Russian eastern seaports, resulting in a second major boost of activities throughout the Baikal-Amur Trunk (BAM). The ultimate completion of its construction will be guaranteed. It would also secure the improvement of the adjoining area, i.e. a poorly developed and scarcely populated 400-km belt, which extends 4095 km from the Town of Ust-Kut in Eastern Siberia to the Tatar Strait.
The traffic alone of natural resources will completely saturate the BAM whose capacity is 15 million tons. During the first stage of developing the adjacent deposits, the route will be capable of accommodating European-Japanese cargo deliveries in view of their single-track status. In the long run however, with the region's industrial and social evolution, as well as the growth of import-export cargo between Europe, Japan, China and Korea, the establishment of a second BAM track will be needed. The predicted shift from to the present 6 million containers to only 1 million between Europe and Asia seriously underestimates Russia's prospects.
From the perspective of all countries, especially those lacking natural resources, access to the natural reserves of Eastern Siberia and the Far East is the main appeal for a Europe-Russia-Japan land corridor. Foreign consumer interests in Russia's natural resources will ensure their involvement in the renovation of low-intensity railroads, the construction of extended railroad branches and motor roads to remote ore deposits and distant large forests.
In this way, natural deposits, timber, industrial business and social facilities become garlands stringed on the intercontinental trunk.
It will be possible to deliver raw materials from a mine to a cargo terminal in any factory, in any country on the trunk without reloading or re-embarking. The same applies to commercially viable wood, spare parts, etc.
The second appealing consideration, especially from the standpoint of industrial countries, is the enormous emerging market within those vast areas for construction and extensive economic development.
The economic appeal of the production facilities that consume local raw materials and are "tied" to the trunk, is the heightened inflow of foreign capital into the area. The interest will be higher if joint ventures are undertaken in Siberia and the Far East. If so, Russia would gain an opportunity to dictate the admission requirements for foreigners. These would include advanced technological integration, experience in modern operations, substantial investment contributions and the promotion of Russian products in external markets.
The construction of the trunk, communication networks and new industrial and social facilities will create a higher demand for metallurgical products such as rails, accessories, pipes and various types of rolled sheets and bars. This will guarantee a steady demand to metallurgists in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Construction, mining, and cargo transportation will require a wide range of services: mining equipment, quarrying and building plants, diesel locomotives, freight and passenger railway cars, tractors and trailers, lorries, buses and railway station facilities. Orders for container production will increase drastically. At present, the traffic of containers in Russia is a low as 0.7% from the total traffic, while this figure reaches 20% in Eastern Europe and 40% in Western Europe.
The growth in rolling stock production will increase the demand for spare parts to be manufactured by electric engineering plants, and by rubber, paint, varnish, and other industries. Diesel engineering will need to be developed further together with the use of imported parts in the entire range of diesel engines.
The construction in extensive areas with different topography will require high-precision equipment designed for lugging and for ensuring the secure operation of the transportation system. The satellite navigation system GLONASS/GPS will be especially needed. Optic fiber lines will be installed to provide reliable communications.
The success of construction and transportation in this emerging industrial area depends on automated data control systems based on a distributed computer network. Integrate flexible production will require fully automated systems for essential conversion processes. Because of the high demand for electronic equipment, it will be possible to liquidate the remains 
of the national electronics base.
The expansion of business activities throughout a vast area and the establishment of a modern social infrastructure will have a positive effect on the demography of the sparsely populated eastern regions of Russia.
Russia is having difficulty solving its problems because of a lack of foreign investment. Japan could be the main foreign investor in the construction of a passageway, two tunnels and a road network, among other things. The project as a whole is very appealing to them.
Many parts of the Russian and Japanese transportation network have been in existence and operation for a long time. However, the construction of the Europe-Russia-Japan passageway and more specifically, of the two tunnels, will be a major breakthrough in the 21st century for Russia, the Commonwealth States and many Asian and European countries.
living standards in many Russian regions. The development of international Euro-Asian transport corridors will provide solutions to global social-economic problems.
to its geographical location and powerful infrastructure which includes railway, motor and water transportation. 
through which cargo can be carried to the Baltic, Black Sea, Mediterranean and Caspian regions. What's more, the Danube-Rhine water corridor further links the network with central Europe. 
Because the Sakhalin was (and still is) the only oil-gas region in the Far East, the goal was to connect the island with the mainland through a tunnel and thus boost the development of production forces both on the island and in the entire Far East. The tunnel would supply food and goods to the population and provide the mainland with oil and gas. This objective is still relevant.
to the natural resources in the Far East and Siberia. Second, direct shipment and delivery between Japan, Europe, Asia and Russia becomes cheaper, faster, more reliable and cost effective while also better protecting the cargo from damage. 
lower than from the European part of Russia. Second, the Far Eastern economy is connected to the national economy through an inter-sector exchange rather than through industrial and technical cooperation. Third, production and consumption in the Russian Far East and in some Asian Pacific countries is in most cases mutually complemented. 
Primorye and the USA. This idea has been supported in the USA (in the Seattle and Tacoma ports) and it is also being carefully examined by Chinese specialists. The proposed route already transports more than 50 thousand containers a year. It is 2630 km shorter than the conventional route from the USA through the ports of Japan and Daliang. Correspondingly, the cost of delivering one container is almost 600 USD lower. There are also other routes through Primorye from China to Japan and Korea that have significant advantages. A recently established container line is in operation on all directions through the Vladivostok, Posiet and Zarubino ports while coal is being transported from China through the Vostochny port. 
we applied the experience of previous undertakers such as "Mosgiprotrans," the JSC "Dal'giprotrans," the Sakhalin and Far East railways and the Sakhalin local administration. We laid out the mainland's transportation infrastructure in the Sakhalin area. The Vanino-Kholmsk ferry crossing is the most dependant link in bad weather. Yet cargo remains detained for two-week periods at the Vanino and Kholmsk stations, which inevitably affects the cargo's integrity.
and between Pogibi and Nogliki (131 km) with a 11.7 km tunnel crossing the Nevelsky Strait; creating a traincar transfer point at the Nogliki station (to 1067 mm track).
The economic viability of direct railway communication depends on international cargo flow. The intensified development of the Sakhalin rail link requires an investment of 35.1 billion rubles to be returned over a period of 24 years. This is acceptable considering the magnitude of the investment and the long-term advantages of such an infrastructure.
national budget would absorb 10-16 billion rubles annually as a result. The project's legacy would be a reliable all-weather communication network with prospects for even further growth with small investments. The Sakhalin would practically cease being an island. 
transportation between the Sakhalin Island and Russia's mainland has a long history and the issue was almost resolved in the early 1950s. The main goal was to carry domestic cargo and passengers as well as to open new transportation links with the Asian Pacific region (with Japan primarily). On May 5 1950, The USSR Government officially opened the construction of a railway line between Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Cape Lazarev and the Sakhalin Island with a tunnel crossing the Nevelsky Strait. The work stopped in 1953 yet the project is as relevant now as it was back then:
construction of this railway line between Komsomolsk-on-Amur, De Kastri, Cape Lazarev, the Sakhalin Island and the Island of Hokkaido: a long-term program for the social and economic development of the Sakhalin region and the Khabarovsk district, and the development of oil and gas extraction in the entire Far East.
The Ministry of Communications under orders from the Russian Federation Government commissioned a study called "Technical and economic prognoses on Far Eastern transportation relations and the construction of a direct railway link between the mainland and the Sakhalin Island". The estimated cost of developing this study is 418 million rubles to be accomplished in a 1.5-2 year period. It would take less than 6-7 years to construct a tunnel (bridge crossing) and fortify the Sakhalin road section.
Based on its scale and economic impact, the creation of a land corridor between Japan, Russia and Europe could become the most important major project of the 21st century.