The Sakhalin Tunnel () is an incomplete and currently indefinitely postponed construction project, which after completion would have connected the island of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

with mainland

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

via a tunnel of approximately under the Nevelskoy Strait (the narrowest part of the

Strait of Tartary Strait of Tartary or Gulf of Tartary (; ; ; ) is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia (South-East Russia), connecting the Sea of Okhotsk ( Nevelskoy Strait) on the north with the Sea of Japan ...

). The construction started under the late Stalinist rule to serve primarily military and settlements purposes, and was abandoned soon after Stalin's death in 1953.

History

Early proposals and planning

The concept of a tunnel under the Nevelskoy Strait has existed since the 19th century, although it was never seriously pursued due to economic reasons. Studies into the feasibility of the project were first undertaken by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in the late 1930s, although

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

made progress at this time impossible.

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

later announced in 1950 his intention to build a railway link to Sakhalin, either via

rail ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to t ...

, a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

, or a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

. A decision to construct a tunnel was announced by the Soviet government on May 5, 1950, along with a rail ferry link to serve as a temporary solution. The project was intended primarily to serve a military purpose, allowing better connection between Sakhalin and the mainland for sections of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

stationed on the island.

Construction

The construction of the railway connection from Selikhino near

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

to the intended mainland tunnel portal at Cape Lazarev was assigned to the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the Ministry of Transport in charge of the tunnel itself. In 1952, the project was transferred to the full management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The planned route on Sakhalin was intended to run from Cape Pogibi, where the tunnel should resurface, to the then northern terminus of the Sakhalin rail network at (formerly known as "Koton" under Japanese rule), north of

Smirnykh Smirnykh () is an types of inhabited localities in Russia, urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Smirnykhovsky District of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia, located in the central part of the Sakhalin, Sakhalin Island. ...

. The length of the tunnel between Cape Pogibi and Cape Lazarev was planned to be around . On the mainland, a rail line was to be constructed to the railway connecting Komsomolsk-on-Amur with

Sovetskaya Gavan Sovetskaya Gavan () is a town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, and a port on the Strait of Tartary which connects the Sea of Okhotsk in the north with the Sea of Japan in the south. Population: It was previously known as Imperatorskaya Gavan (Им ...

, now a section of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. The project was planned for completion by the end of 1953 and to be in full operation by the end of 1955. Annual goods traffic on the line was projected to reach four million tonnes. The project included three separate constructions—mainland and island railway links, connecting with the rest of railroad network (Building 507 and 506 respectively) and tunnel itself (Building 6 of the MPS). Railway characteristics were very poor; in fact, it was a temporary railway, which was to be followed by capital rebuilding after construction. Tunnel works (Building 6 of MPS) were a different story. It was to be constructed by military engineers and Metrostroy tunnel specialists. After the death of Stalin in March 1953, work on the project stopped, with the tunnel allegedly almost halfway across the straits, although later investigation has shown that just two shafts were built. The shafts have a depth of about and a diameter of about , with the trunk concreted and lined with cast-iron tubing, fastened to each other by bolts. While the reasons for cancellation of the project are not fully clear, some sources have indicated that because of numerous amnesties granted to prisoners after Stalin's death, there was no longer the required workforce. Tunnel workers waited eight months after cancellation, but without linking railways, the tunnel had no purpose.

Completed sections of the project

Around of track along the right bank of the

Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...

from Selikhino to Chyorny Mys was completed, although this was still well short of the planned tunnel entrance at Cape Lazarev. The Selikhino-Chyorny Mys railway was later used for transport of lumber by the Soviet forestry industry, but was closed in the 1990s and the track has been largely dismantled. Remains of the tunnel entrance are still visible around Cape Lazarev. No new track was built on Sakhalin, although preparatory earthworks on the planned route were used in the construction of a road from Nysh to Pogibi.

Current operations and future prospects

Since 1973, a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...

has connected Vanino (on the mainland near

) with the town of Kholmsk on Sakhalin. Even after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, there have been calls from politicians for a revival of the project, although there have been concerns that its cost would outweigh the benefits. However, there have been signs that the link is under serious consideration, including an announcement of support from Russian President Dimitry Medvedev in November 2008. The project is proposed to be completed by 2030. On January 16, 2009, it was suggested by the Russian government the link could be completed with either a bridge or a tunnel. New plans would see the connection in Sakhalin at Nogliki, which has in the meantime been connected to the island's rail network. In 2019, work was completed to convert the island's

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

rail system, a legacy of the previous Japanese administration of the southern half of the island, to the broader Russian standard gauge. There have also been proposals to connect the southern tip of Sakhalin to the Japanese island of

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

via a bridge or tunnel, providing a direct land transport link for container traffic from Japan to the Asian mainland and Europe. In July 2018, Russia's president Vladimir Putin commissioned an analysis of a proposal to build a bridge from the Russian mainland to Sakhalin on the northernmost part of the

. Putin said that the project was very important for Sakhalin residents and would be a major factor in encouraging people to remain in the region. It would also boost the development of Khabarovsk Territory. He said that he had instructed the government to analyze this matter, particularly its economic aspects.

References