Sakhalin - Hokkaido Rail Line Plan

Whatever happened to the plan to rebuild the rail line on Sakhalin and connect with Hokkaido ?

CJ,

Am going to have to do some digging on this, but as of right now, Sakhalin is a disputed territory, like the Hoppo Ryudo (the small archipeligo between Hokkaido and Sakhalin), between Russia and Japan*. And as of right now, Sakhalin and the HR are under Russian jurisdiction.

So, I would think any or all railway construction plans would be placed on hold indeffinately, until the territory falls back under Japanese control.


* This information is according to a class or two I took at the university over there in Japan. Things may have changed in the 8-10 years since I was there, but I will double-check my information.

Komachi wrote:CJ,

Am going to have to do some digging on this, but as of right now, Sakhalin is a disputed territory, like the Hoppo Ryudo (the small archipeligo between Hokkaido and Sakhalin), between Russia and Japan*. And as of right now, Sakhalin and the HR are under Russian jurisdiction.

So, I would think any or all railway construction plans would be placed on hold indeffinately, until the territory falls back under Japanese control.


* This information is according to a class or two I took at the university over there in Japan. Things may have changed in the 8-10 years since I was there, but I will double-check my information.

I think the Japanese had a brief spark of hope when the Soviet Union collapsed of getting back at least some of that territory, but that moment has long passed. Russia is now firmly in control and shows no signs any more of weakness in that area. Besides there are huge oil and gas projects in Sakhalin which are going to be immensely profitable for the Russian state.

Yes, nothing has changed since you took that class 8-10 years ago, Komachi. The Japanese still want those islands, though! It's amusing to me to see all the signs screaming "give back the disputed territories" posted all over the Hokkaido countryside. Many of the signs are in Japanese, Russian, and English. Interestingly, though, some are only in Japanese and English. Read what you want into that.

If any of you ever come to Hokkaido and go all the way up north to Wakkanai, there is an excellent museum covering the Japanese occupation of Sakhalin. It's in the big observation tower on top of the hill overlooking Wakkanai. On a clear day, you can see Sakhalin in the distance. Even though the museum is only in Japanese, there are several railroad-related displays, maps and photos. One shows a spectacular branchline that looped over itself on a high wooden trestle. It was operational into the 1990s.

Scott Lothes
Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan

Sakhalin is a disputed territory, but the fact that huge mineral reserves have been discovered there means the Russians will only be ejected by conquest, and they are plenty capable of defending themselves.

The Sakhalin plan I heard was that they are going to broaden the 42" gauge Sakhalin railroad to Russian Standard gauge and maybe build a tunnel across the straits at the north end and connect into the Russian railroad network.

Srnumber9 wrote:Sakhalin is a disputed territory, but the fact that huge mineral reserves have been discovered there means the Russians will only be ejected by conquest, and they are plenty capable of defending themselves.

The Sakhalin plan I heard was that they are going to broaden the 42" gauge Sakhalin railroad to Russian Standard gauge and maybe build a tunnel across the straits at the north end and connect into the Russian railroad network.

That is more likely than any cnnection with Japan.

The Japanese gained control of part of Sakhalin, and I assume built the railway there to Cape gauge (3ft 6in) after they defeated Russia in the war of 1904?. It may well be the only Cape gauge in Russian territory, so they might want to harmonise with the rest of Russian railways. As to a tunnel, how wide is the strait, and what sort of seabed is it? The Channel Tunnel showed how expensive that kind of thing is. It can only be justified by huge amounts of traffic. I don't see Sakhalin providing that.

I don't think any Japanese other than the extreme rightwing nationalists dream of regaining Sakhalin itself. They did and do dream of regaining some smaller islands at the south end, but I don't think they have much chance.