BAM 2.0: Myths and true facts about construction

Construction of the second branch of the Baikal-Amur Mainline is a federal project that will undoubtedly go down in history. The active development of the Far Eastern and Siberian regions contributes to the fact that the load on the existing railway track is constantly growing. Even now, trains are forced to wait for several hours to skip trains going in the opposite direction. Obviously, the situation will only get worse in the future, so the second way of BAM is necessary for the country to develop effectively. Of course, the project is expensive and its implementation will take a lot of time. But over time, all efforts will pay off. The government is sure of this. The construction of a large facility always carries a lot of risks, and therefore a lot of myths and tall tales appear. Let's look at the main ones and understand whether the fears are real and whether the construction can do more harm than good. And in general, how appropriate is it to invest people's money in the construction of a road that will transport not people, but only goods.

Myth #1. The project is unprofitable

There is money for construction. And this amount is fabulous - 800 billion rubles have been allocated from the Russian budget. However, many skeptics fear that they will be wasted and will not bring profit in the end. It is no secret that the construction of the first branch of the Baikal-Amur mainline caused the same concerns. It took about 40 years before the project paid off. It took a long time, it was difficult, but still the goal was achieved. As for the BAM 2.0 project, experts have also calculated the preliminary payback period. It is 22 years, provided that the capacity of the highway will double by 2030. Are there prerequisites for the fact that the volume of coal consumption will be reduced? The transition to a "green economy" entails such risks. Perhaps the demand for BAM will not be so high, and then the payback period will be increased, but the development of the Yakut railway reduces these risks, or rather, balances them. While experts are full of optimism and construction work is underway. Not at the pace originally planned. But such are the realities, the pandemic has made its plans even in such a large-scale project as the construction of BAM 2.0.

Myth #2. Damage to the ecology of the region

Rail transport is considered one of the most environmentally friendly in the world. Nevertheless, the construction of highways often causes irreparable harm to nature, especially against the background of the abolition of mandatory environmental expertise during work. Environmentalists fear that petroleum products used in the laying and maintenance of railway tracks will fall into reservoirs. However, Russian Railways assures that the reconstruction of BAM will be carried out in full compliance with environmental legislation. Each Russian Railways facility will have its own environmental passport, and all processes will be as transparent as possible to the public. Ecomonitoring (monitoring of soil, water, air) will be constantly carried out. The reconstruction process will be covered in detail in the media and social networks, so even ordinary citizens can be aware of all the nuances. A special "hotline" has been created to inform citizens and receive appeals from them. Each Russian Railways facility, whether it is a repair depot or a car washing workshop, has its own treatment facilities. The water is purified from suspended particles, surfactants, petroleum products, iron sulfates. And only then gets into reservoirs. Direct discharge to Baikal during the construction of the railway is excluded. When laying paths within the boundaries of the water protection zone, special geomembranes are laid, which detain not only wastewater from Russian Railways facilities, but even stormwater from penetrating into the ground without preliminary cleaning. It is obvious that Russian Railways is ready to openly cooperate with environmental and scientific organizations in order to reduce the likelihood of damage to the unique nature of the Baikal Territory. Despite all the measures taken by the management, isolated episodes of environmental damage still occur. Thus, one of the Russian Railways contractors in the Urals did not fulfill the terms of the contract and did not properly dispose of the contaminated soil. Russian Railways immediately responded to the situation and violators will have to fix the problem and compensate for the damage. The soil in the pollution zone will be reclaimed by the contractor. Such situations are infrequent, but still with the dishonesty of some people sometimes have to face. The main thing is that all these problems are solvable. And the system works in such a way as to detect such violations in time and eliminate their negative impact on nature.

Myth #3. Large-scale deforestation

There is widespread misinformation on the Internet that the construction of BAM 2.0 is accompanied by massive felling of trees on the way of laying the second line. And this myth did not arise by chance. During the construction of the first line of the highway, massive deforestation was actually carried out. However, even then the construction of two tracks was included in the project, and in fact the area for the second line has already been cleared by those who 40 years ago worked on the "construction site of the century". Of course, the statement that there is no deforestation at all will be an outright lie. In part, it is still being conducted. In order to place the same treatment facilities or electric shields along the tracks. Places of partial cutting are called additional branches. Each of them is coordinated with the design institute, its necessity is justified. For the arrangement of such additional branches, they try to choose areas free of green spaces. If this is not possible, JSC Russian Railways compensates for the damage caused to nature. Railway workers regularly plant new trees in various nature reserves located near the main line and places affected by fires. Instead of one felled tree, 5 young seedlings are planted. Thus, the damage to nature due to the ongoing compensatory measures is minimal. At the moment, AOA Russian Railways has carried out such work on the territory of 20 hectares of forest, thereby improving the ecological situation of the entire region.

A true fact. Shortage of personnel

JSC Russian Railways planned to complete work on the BAM 2.0 project in the coming years, but the situation on the labor market has made its own adjustments to their plans. There were catastrophically not enough personnel. Announcements about the recruitment of specialists for the construction of the second track of the Baikal-Amur Mainline were constantly flashing on the Russian Railways website and in social networks. More than 50 working professions are in demand, from handymen to excavators and crane operators. The proposed salary is from 30 to 100 thousand rubles per month. Workers were offered additional retraining, people with any education were invited. JSC Russian Railways promised to provide workers with housing, food and medical insurance. And even with such promises, it was not possible to solve the personnel problem for a long time. The shortage of personnel was closed by railway troops. The government discussed the possibility of involving convicted citizens in the construction. And we came to some agreements. The Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service has given its consent to the involvement of convicts to work. More than 600 people serving sentences for various crimes are already working on the construction sites of the highway. But this is a drop in the bucket. To complete the project, it is necessary to attract at least 15 thousand people. The situation with a shortage of personnel was before, but with the onset of the pandemic, it has sharply worsened. After the first wave of quarantine, migrants did not return to the country. But it was they who made up 25% of the total number of workers on the construction of the highway. Until 2021, it was not possible to fill the shortage of personnel in any way, and finally, after conducting a large-scale campaign to find specialists throughout the country, in October, Russian Railways reported that the staff was finally staffed. Even with an overabundance. 16 thousand people have been hired. But the recruitment does not stop, because it is planned to increase the pace of construction in 2022, which means that additional labor will be needed. At the same time, the specific number of workers has not yet been reported.

Is there enough money?

Experts question whether the real budget corresponds to the planned and further development of events in the same vein. The cost of the attracted labor force is clearly higher than that offered to migrants. So far, additional financial injections are carried out by JSC Russian Railways. But how long can this continue… Will the company be able to, if not expand, then at least retain such a large staff? While the question remains open. Even taking into account the fact that 16,000 people are already working on the creation of the second track of the highway, it is not possible to catch up with the backlog, for this it is necessary to attract, according to various estimates, from 3 to 5 thousand more people, and this is additional costs. There are risks of extending various stages of construction, which will affect the final estimate. It will increase by about 30%. And whether Russian Railways and the Russian budget will cope with such adjustments, only time will tell. In any case, there is nowhere to retreat. Just go ahead!

BAM 2.0 and coronavirus

Over the past years, the pandemic has made significant adjustments to the large-scale line of the second route of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. And so far, no improvements are expected. The coronavirus does not spare builders, and the threat of its spread does not decrease in the future. Therefore, experts are already talking about new rounds of personnel starvation and are trying to develop measures to preserve the number of workers. And we want to believe that this time everything will work out. And we will defeat the virus, and we will complete the highway... And in general, everything will be fine! Let's believe!