The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Marat Khusnullin stated the need for construction of Baikal–Amur Mainline-2 (BAM-2) at the Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok. The second line will make the mainline fully double-tracked and increase its capacity.
There are many narrow railway sections on the way to Asia, where traffic slows down. Some parts of the BAM have only one line, so trains cannot move in opposite directions simultaneously.
Another problem is that, despite the importance of the railway, currently it is not fully electrified (see the map below).
In 2022, export coal shipments through BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway amounted to 102.3 mio t.
Source: CAA
