This railway is located on the Yamal Peninsula in northern Western Siberia, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia. Some of the world’s largest natural gas deposits are found here.

It consists of 5 stations and 70 bridges starting from Obskaya Station (Labytnangi) and going to Karskaya Station (the Bovanenkovo natural gas ​​deposit). The length of the railway is 572 km, and it is located entirely beyond the Arctic Circle. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

The construction of the railway began in 1986. It was planned to be completed in 1990. The construction dragged on, and in 1995 the project was frozen. In 2005, Gazprom resumed the construction. To build a new gas production center, it was necessary to develop the railway connection. In 2011, the first trains went on this railway.

Today, it provides year-round delivery of workers, equipment and construction materials to the gas fields. The capacity of this railway is 3.5 million tons per year, average speed – 40 km/h. About 40 thousand passengers are transported on this railway per year.

The bridge across the Yuribey River is a unique object not only on this railway. The length of the bridge is 3.9 km – the longest bridge beyond the Arctic Circle in the world. The Yuribey is an unusual river. Its riverbed does not exceed 200-300 meters in width, but for several days a year the river overflows to more than 3 km.

In winter, the temperature here drops to -50° C, and in summer, 80% of the territory of Yamal is covered by lakes, swamps and rivers.

Karskaya Station is the northernmost railway station on the planet.

The northern end of the railway.

The trip from Obskaya Station to Karskaya Station takes one day. There is not a single settlement along the entire route.

Tags: Salekhard city · Yamalo-Nenets okrug

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