Russian authorities are making plans for an ambitious new transport route with a superhighway and high-speed rail network to connect Asia and Europe across the Bering Strait.
The plan was introduced at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where the head of the Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin presented the idea for the Trans-Eurasian Belt Development (TEPR is the acronym in Russian).
The new transport belt would make it possible to drive from the UK to the U. S. using a series of bridges, tunnels and trains. The current plan also calls for a high-speed railway to be built next to the highway. Yakunin and other officials commented that the transport corridor would see new cities and industries created as relating to the construction and the eventual transport traffic along the route.
More on Russia’s plans for Trans-Eurasian Belt
According to the Siberian Times, Yakunin has been working on the TEPR project with academic Gennady Osipov and the rector of Moscow State University, Viktor Sadovnichy, for some time now
During his presentation, Yakunin noted that this kind of transport corridor was vital more than ever and would help Russia become the new world leader in the development of high-tech industries.
He also noted that Western-style globalization is not a benefit, but a constrint on the economic, scientific, moral and spiritual development of society.
TEPR is imagined as a transportation route spanning the length of Russia that would link into existing networks in Europe and Asia. It would be the first modern route crossing Asia from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.
Statement from Russian Railways chief Yakunin
In his speech, Yakunin commented: “This is an inter-state, inter-civilization, project. It should be an alternative to the current (neo-liberal) model, which has caused a systemic crisis. The project should be turned into a world ‘future zone’, and it must be based on leading, not catching, technologies.”
