Russia has also been re-investing into its fleet of nuclear icebreakers, replacing older ships which had plied the Arctic sea routes since Soviet times with newer models.

There are widespread expectations that the Arctic ports of Murmansk, Kirkenes and Narvik will grow in importance in the coming decades, thus necessitating better hinterland infrastructure.

[7] In early 2019, a Finnish-Norwegian working group assembled by Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications stated that the volume of cargo was too small to justify the project's costs.

[9][8] In november 2024, Transport and Communications Minister Lulu Ranne says that a giant project is being launched in Lapland due to the threat from Russia.

Environmental and cultural sensitivities exist which affect these plans, with concerns from the indigenous Sámi people that the proposed line would pass through reindeer grazing lands.