News In Brief
| Moscow
New trans-Siberian line reported near completion
Engineers working on the Soviet Union's top transport priority, the new ''BAM'' trans-Siberian railway, are within 65 miles of linking up the final sections of track, the official daily Pravda said Tuesday.
Pravda said the line would now be finished well ahead of the Nov. 7 deadline. But reports from the area have suggested that substantial difficulties still remain because mountains separate the two construction teams.
The new route, known as the Baikal-Amur-Mainline (BAM), will run from Lake Baikal to the Amur River, several hundred miles to the north of the prerevolutionary trans-Siberian line. It is intended to promote settlement and development of eastern Siberia's natural resources.
