N. Siberian railroad to connect Trans-Siberian railroad, Northern Sea Route - Russian presidential aide

NOVOSIBIRSK. Oct 6 (Interfax) - The construction of a North Siberian railroad will help redistribute the Eastern Polygon's freight load, Russian presidential aide Igor Levitin told reporters in Novosibirsk on Friday.

"We are developing the Northern Sea Route and already have a deficit of icebreakers. Currently, we transport 35 million tonnes, while the goal is 80 million tonnes. We see that an extra one million tonnes in the Eastern Polygon is very costly to us," Levitin said.

"We are talking about building a railroad to the Northern Sea Route," he said.

The Russian Academy of Sciences will study this project to identify additional freight for the railroad, Levitin said. "So that the Trans-Siberian railroad can be connected to the Northern Sea Route," he said.