TRAFFIC has begun operating through the second tunnel in the Baikal mountains on the Baikal-Amur mainline (BAM) in Russia following an opening ceremony overseen remotely by Russian president Mr Vladimir Putin on July 28.
Construction of the 6.682km single-track tunnel, the third longest in Russia, began in May 2014 and was bored through in March 2018. Work was conducted by SK Most and is described by Russian Railways (RZD) as the most important part of continuing upgrades to the BAM and the Trans-Siberian railways.
The existing single-track tunnel, which opened in 1985, became one of the worst bottlenecks on the BAM with trains having to wait between Delbichinda and Daban. The tunnel and completion of track doubling of the Delbichina - Daban section of line will now increase throughput capacity from 17 to 85 trains per day.
The tunnel has a diameter of 8.3m and is excavated at a depth of 300m. It is located 35m away from the original tunnel. The western portal of the tunnel is located in the Irkutsk Region and the eastern portal in the Republic of Buryatia. It features gates at each portal enabling a stable temperature of 9°C to be maintained throughout.
A ceremony to mark the opening of the tunnel was held at the eastern portal and was attended by Mr Oleg Belozerov, CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of RZD, Mr Alexey Tsydenov, head of the Republic of Buryatia, and Mr Ruslan Baisarov, chairman of the Board of Directors of SK Mos.
Belozerov says the tunnel was completed five months ahead of schedule.
