Further moves have been made to build a 7km long rail tunnel linking Hokkaido in Japan with Sakhalin in Russia.
Japanese and Russian building firms met in Khabarovsk on September 5 to discuss the project. According to the initial plan, the tunnel will be built by Japanese construction firms with 11km of at-grade railway built by Russian companies.
Hitachi and Mitsubishi have shown interest in the scheme.
Russia has also proposed building a second tunnel that would link Sakhalin to the mainland via the Tatar Strait.
