The Eurasian Land Bridge (), sometimes called the New Silk Road (, ), is the

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

route for moving freight and passengers overland between Pacific seaports in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

and China and seaports in Europe. The route, a

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...

and rail land bridge, currently comprises the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

, which runs through Russia and is sometimes called the Northern East-West Corridor, and the New Eurasian Land Bridge or Second Eurasian Continental Bridge, running through China and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. As of November 2007, about one percent of the $600 billion in goods shipped from Asia to Europe each year were delivered by inland transport routes. Completed in 1916, the Trans-Siberian connects Moscow with Russian Pacific seaports such as

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...

. From the 1960s until the early 1990s the railway served as the primary land bridge between Asia and Europe, until several factors caused the use of the railway for transcontinental freight to dwindle. One factor is that the railways of the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

use a wider rail gauge than most of the rest of Europe as well as China. Recently, however, the Trans-Siberian has regained ground as a viable land route between the two continents. China's rail system had long linked to the Trans-Siberian via

northeastern China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. In 1990, China added a link between its rail system and the Trans-Siberian via

. China calls its uninterrupted rail link between the port city of

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives f ...

and Kazakhstan the New Eurasian Land Bridge or Second Eurasian Continental Bridge. In addition to Kazakhstan, the railways connect with other countries in Central Asia and the Middle East, including

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. With the October 2013 completion of the rail link across the Bosphorus under the

Marmaray The Marmaray () is a intercontinental commuter rail line in Istanbul, Turkey. A rail tunnel running under the Bosphorus strait was connected to an upgraded version of the old suburban train service (known as the banliyö), allowing trains ...

project the New Eurasian Land Bridge now theoretically connects to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

via Central and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

. Proposed expansion of the Eurasian Land Bridge includes construction of a railway across Kazakhstan that is the same gauge as Chinese railways ( standard gauge, as opposed to 1,520 mm gauge in the former Soviet Union), rail links to India,

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and elsewhere in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

, construction of a rail tunnel and highway bridge across the Bering Strait to connect the Trans-Siberian to the North American rail system, and construction of a rail tunnel between South Korea and Japan. The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

has proposed further expansion of the Eurasian Land Bridge, including the Trans-Asian Railway project.

History

Commercial traffic between Europe and Asia took place along the Silk Road from at least the 2nd millennium BC. The Silk Road was not a specific thoroughfare, but a general route used by traders to travel, much of it by land, between the two continents along the Eurasian Steppes through Central Asia. The route was used to exchange goods, ideas and people primarily between China and India and the Mediterranean and helped create a single-world system of trade between the civilisations of Europe and Asia.Christian; Ōtsuka, p. 42. Exports from Asia transported along the Silk Road included fabrics, carpets, furs, weapons, utensils, metals, farm produce, livestock and slaves. Civilisations active in trading during the road's history included

Scythia Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Hi ...

Ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

and

Byzantine Greece Byzantine Greece has a history that mainly coincides with that of the Byzantine Empire itself. Background: Roman Greece The Greek peninsula became a Roman protectorate in 146 BC, and the Aegean islands were added to this territory in 133 BC. ...

, the

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

and Tang dynasties,

Parthia Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...

, Rouran,

Sogdiana Sogdia ( Sogdian: ) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empi ...

, Göktürks,

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

Yuezhi The Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat ...

and the Mongol Empire.Christian. Beginning in the 5th century AD, new land routes between Asia and Europe developed further to the north. Many of these routes passed through

Yugra Yugra or Iuhra ( Old Russian Югра ''Jugra''; Byzantine Greek Οὔγγροι ''Oὔggroi''; la, OngariaeBaltic region. The

Khazars The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...

, and the

Rus' Khaganate The Rusʹ Khaganate ( be, Рускі каганат, ''Ruski kahanat'', russian: Русский каганат, ''Russkiy kaganat'', uk, Руський каганат, ''Ruśkyj kahanat''), is the name applied by some modern historians to a ...

were active in trading along the northern trade routes. Traffic along the southern Silk Road routes greatly diminished with the Fall of Constantinople in the 15th century and development of the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope in the 16th century. By the 18th century, European influence on trade and new national boundaries severely restricted the movement of traders along all land routes between Europe and China, and overland trade between East Asia and Europe virtually disappeared.

Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian Railway and its various associated branches and supporting lines, completed in 1916, established the first rail connection between Europe and Asia, from Moscow to Vladivostok. The line, at , is the longest rail line in the world. The Trans-Siberian connects the Russian Pacific ports of

and

Nakhodka Nakhodka ( rus, Нахо́дка, p=nɐˈxotkə) is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trudny Peninsula jutting into the Nakhodka Bay of the Sea of Japan, about east of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai. Po ...

with Moscow. Rail links at Moscow allow passengers and freight to connect to train lines running further west into Europe. By making further transfers, passengers and freight can eventually reach Western European seaports. The Trans-Siberian also connects with

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

(e.g. via Dandong in Northeastern China, or directly at Khasan south of Vladivostok). A fully electrified and double-tracked line, the Trans-Siberian Railway line is capable of transporting around 100 million tons of freight annually. The line can handle up to 200,000 TEU of containerized international transit freight per year. A more northerly east–west route across Siberia, parallel to the Trans-Siberian line and known as the

Baikal–Amur Mainline The Baikal–Amur Mainline (russian: Байкало-Амурская магистраль, , , ) is a broad-gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the -long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 4 ...

was mostly completed in 1989. It terminates at the Pacific ports of Vanino and Sovetskaya Gavan. Although this line is comparatively little used (the management mentions 6 million tons of freight per year, not indicating the year), the management expects the line to be fully used in the foreseeable future for oil and copper ore export, and has plans to double-track it. While the Trans-Siberian has always been used by the

Tsarist Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states ...

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and modern Russian government to project political power into their territories in Asia, in the 1960s it was opened by the USSR as an international trade route connecting the Western Pacific with Europe. Freight shipments on the Trans-Siberian, however, experienced increasing problems over time with dilapidated rail infrastructures, theft, damaged freight, late trains, inflated freight fees, uncertain scheduling for return of containers and geopolitical tension. As a result, use of the railway for international trade had declined to almost zero by the 1990s. According to Hofstra University, as of 2001 there was renewed interest in using the Trans-Siberian as a route across Asia to Europe. Also, the Trans-Siberian links directly to railways which ultimately connect, via Finland and Sweden, to the year-round ice-free port of Narvik in Norway. At Narvik, freight can be transshipped to ships to cross the Atlantic to North America. Rail links from Russia also connect to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, but may encounter greater congestion along this route with resulting delays. The trade route between the east coast of North America and eastern Russia using the Trans-Siberian is often called the Northern East West Freight Corridor. In an effort to attract use of the Trans-Siberian to transport goods from Japan, China, and Korea to Europe, in the mid-1990s Russia lowered tariffs on freight using the railway. As a result, freight volume over the rail line doubled in 1999 and 2000. In February and March 2011, Japan's

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法 ...

sponsored a test of the route by shipping roof tiles to Europe via the Trans-Siberian. The tiles were transported by ship from

Hamada, Shimane is a city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. It is the third largest city in the prefecture and is located at the southwestern end of the prefecture. It is a coastal city on the Sea of Japan and possesses beautiful white sand beaches, which ...

to Vladivostok, then by the railway to Moscow. The transit time was expected to be 30 days, in comparison with the 50 days on average it takes to ship cargo by ship from Hamada to ports in western Russia. If successful, the ministry would use the results of the test to encourage other Japanese companies to utilize the Trans-Siberian over the sea route. In 2011, a direct container rail service began carrying car parts from

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, Germany, to inland Shenyang, China, through

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

in 23 days, every day.DB Schenker to launch daily freight train to China
'' Railway Gazette International'', 30 September 2011. Accessed: 4 October 2011. In 2013 a direct container, pallet, and general cargo rail service began, from

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, Poland, to inland

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

, China, through Siberia in 14 days, 3 days each week. According to Russian statistics, the amount of international container shipments transiting annually through Russia over the Trans-Siberian has grown by a factor of 7 between 2009 and 2014, reaching 131,000 TEU (55,000 physical containers) in 2014. Belarusian Railways reported similar statistics: in 2014, the volume of direct container traffic from China to Western Europe crossing Belarus amounted to 40,600 TEU, on 25 direct container train routes. This constituted over 20% of Belarusian Railway's entire volume of container transportation that year, 193,100 TEU. While significant, and growing, this is still much less than 0.1% of the number of containers that travel via China's sea ports (some 170 million TEU).

China and the land bridge

Direct connections between Russia and China

The original Moscow–Vladivostok route, completed in 1904, cut across China's northeastern provinces, or

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

; the section of the railway located within China was known as the

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

. While the more northerly Trans-Siberian route, located entirely on Russian soil, was completed in 1916, the former Chinese Eastern Railway route continues as an important connector between the two countries' railway networks. The western border point (

Zabaykalsk Zabaykalsk (russian: Забайка́льск) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Zabaykalsky District of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the Sino-Russian border just opposite the Chinese border ...

Manzhouli Manzhouli (; mn, Манжуур хот; ) is a sub-prefectural city located in Hulunbuir prefecture-level city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Located on the border with Russia, it is a major land port of entry. It has an area of and ...

) and the line connecting it to the Trans-Siberian main line, are now being upgraded, with the goal of enabling the railway by 2010 to pass 30 freight trains in each direction across the border, each one up to 71 cars long. The cross-border freight volume at this rail crossing is expected to reach 25.5 million tons by 2010. Besides cargo (principally, Russian oil exported to China), this crossing sees a direct weekly passenger train, Moscow–Beijing, as well as some local passenger trains.Реконструкция пункта перестановки вагонов: В круглосуточном режиме на станции Забайкальск Забайкальской железной дороги ведется реконструкция пункта перестановки пассажирских вагонов
("Reconstruction of the bogie exchange facility: workers at Zabaykalsk Station of the Transbaikalian Railway are working round the clock, renovating the passenger railcar bogie exchange facility"). (Transbaikalian Railway official web site, 8 June 2008 The eastern border point of the former Chinese Eastern Railway, at Suifenhe/

Grodekovo Pogranichny (russian: Пограни́чный) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Pogranichny District of Primorsky Krai, Russia, located east of the China–Russia border and northwest of Vladivo ...

, sees significant use as well, with over 8 million tons of freight crossing the border there in 2007, and regular cross-border passenger service. A third, little-known and less used, rail connection between Russia and China was built farther south, between

Hunchun Hunchun (; Chosŏn'gŭl: 혼춘; Hangul: 훈춘) is a county-level city in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, far eastern Jilin province. It borders North Korea (North Hamgyong province) and Russia (Primorsky Krai), has over 250,000 inha ...

(in China's

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

province) and Russian Makhalino (a station on the

Ussuriysk Ussuriysk (russian: Уссури́йск) is a city in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located in the fertile valley of the Razdolnaya River, north of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai, and about from both the China–Russia border and ...

– Khasan–North Korean border line, before Khasan). It began operating in February 2000, and saw only a minor amount of traffic (678 railcars of lumber) over the next two years. The line was closed in 2002–03, briefly reopened in 2003, and closed again in September 2004. On 15 February 2011, the two companies who own the line, Northeast Asia Railway Group, a Chinese company, and JSC Golden Link, a Russian company, signed an agreement to resume operations on the line in May 2011. In November 2008, the transport ministries of Russia and the China signed an agreement about creating one more link between the railway systems of the two countries. It will involve a railway bridge between across the Amur (Heilong) River, connecting Tongjiang in China's

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

province with Nizhneleninskoye in Russia's

Jewish Autonomous Oblast The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO; russian: Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть, (ЕАО); yi, ייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע געגנט, ; )In standard Yiddish: , ''Yidishe Oytonome Gegnt'' is a federal subject ...

. On 4 November 2010, the project director, Wang Jin, told

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

that construction on the bridge would begin in January 2011.

Russia to China via Mongolia

The Trans-Mongolian line, connecting

Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; bua, Улаан-Үдэ, , ; russian: Улан-Удэ, p=ʊˈlan ʊˈdɛ; mn, Улаан-Үд, , ) is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence wi ...

on the Trans-Siberian with China's

Erenhot Erenhot ( mn, ; , commonly shortened to Ereen or Erlian) is a county-level city of the Xilin Gol League, in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located in the Gobi Desert along the Sino-Mongolian border, across from the Mongolian town of Za ...

via the Mongolian capital

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

, both serves as a crucial link to the outside world for landlocked Mongolia, and the shortest connection between the Trans-Siberian Railway and Beijing. This line's capacity, however, is limited by its being single-track.

Kazakhstan to China

Western-most end of Northern Xinjiang Railway

While the USSR had long been connected with China via the rail links in Northeastern China and

, since the 1950s plans existed to connect the two countries' rail networks at the

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

border. The Soviets completed their line from Aktogay (a station on the Turksib in eastern Kazakhstan) to their border station Druzhba (now

Dostyk Dostyk ( kk, Достық, ''Dostyq'') or Druzhba (russian: Дружба) is a small town in Kazakhstan's Almaty Region, on the border with Xinjiang, China. It is a port of entry (by highway and railroad) from China. The rail portion serves as ...

), but the construction on the Chinese side stopped because of the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...

of the 1960s. In 1985 construction commenced on the Northern Xinjiang Railway to link the Chinese and Russian rail networks via Kazakhstan. The section between

Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...

and

Alashankou Alashankou is a border city in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It is a port of entry by both railroad and highway from Kazakhstan as part of the Eurasian Land Bridge. Overview The city is named a ...

was completed on 16 September 1990, linking the railway lines of the two countries at Dostyk. In July 1991 the first

goods train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

traveled along the line from China to Kazakhstan's then-capital of Almaty. In December 2009, a second rail link from China was built to the Kazakhstan border at

Khorgos Khorgas, officially known as KorgasThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, '' SinoMaps Press'' 1997); ( zh, s=霍尔果斯, t=霍爾果斯, p=Huò'ěrguǒsī; kk, قورعاس, Qorǵas), also known as ''Chorgos'', ''Gorgos'', ''Horgos ...

. The

Jinghe–Yining–Khorgos Railway The Jingyihuo railway (), short for Jinghe–Yining–Khorgas railway, is the first electrified railway in operation in Xinjiang, China. The line is 286 km in length and connects Jinghe, Yining and Khorgos.(Chinese"新疆首条电气化铁� ...

forks off of the Northern Xinjiang Railway at Jinghe and approaches Kazakhstan from the Ili River Valley. A rail link on Kazakh side will extend the line to Saryozek by 2013. The rail link through the Korgas Pass was completed in December 2012. Because Kazakhstan was once a member of the USSR, its rail system connects with and carries the same rail gauge as the Russian rail system, as well as the other Central Asian republics of

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

, Uzbekistan,

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. From Kazakhstan, four major north–south railways connect with the Russian rail system. Two connect with the Trans-Siberian Railway (the Turksib and the Shu–

Nur-Sultan Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

–

Petropavl Petropavl ( kk, Петропавл, Petropavl ) or Petropavlovsk () is a city on the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia. It is the capital of the North Kazakhstan Region. Population: 218,956. The city is also kno ...

meridional line In geodesy and navigation, a meridian arc is the curve between two points on the Earth's surface having the same longitude. The term may refer either to a segment of the meridian, or to its length. The purpose of measuring meridian arcs is to d ...

) while the other two (the

Trans-Aral Railway The broad gauge Trans-Aral Railway (also known as the Tashkent Railway) was built in 1906 connecting Kinel and Tashkent, then both in the Russian Empire. For the first part of the 20th century it was the only railway connection between European ...

, and the connection via Atyrau and Astrakhan Oblast) go directly to European Russia. These links to the Russian rail system are sometimes called the Eurasian Railway. Kazakhstan plays an important role in the "New Silk Road" initiative, known as "One Belt, One Road" linking China and Europe through Central Asia and Russia. A new direction of the Silk Road was launched in January 2016 and included the Ukraine – Georgia – Azerbaijan – Kazakhstan – China route. Kazakhstan's infrastructure development program Nurly Zhol was developed in line with the New Silk Road Initiative. President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev even noted that Nurly zhol was a part of the New Silk Road Economic Belt.

Through service between China and Western Europe

There are three main routes for container services from China to Europe: Eastern route from Vostochny Port (Russia), northern route from west China via Manzhouli/Zabaikalsk border stations and southern route from east China via Dostyk border station, through which totally 25k TEU has been transported on rail by 2014. In January 2008 China and Germany inaugurated a long-distance freight train service between Beijing and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Travelling a total of , the train uses the China Railways and the Trans-Mongolian line to travel from

Xiangtan Xiangtan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hunan province, south-central China. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Chairman Mao Zedong, President Liu Shaoqi, and Marshal Peng Dehuai, a ...

(in

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

Province) to

, where it then continues north to the Trans-Siberian. After reaching the end of the Trans-Siberian at Moscow the train continues to Germany via rail links in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

and Poland. Total transit time is 15 days, as compared with the 30 days average it would take for the freight to make the same journey by ship. The first train of 50 containers, carrying a mixed load of clothes, ceramics and electronics (for the Fujitsu company), travelled on tracks operated by six different railways.

Hartmut Mehdorn Hartmut Mehdorn (born 31 July 1942 in Warsaw) is a German manager and mechanical engineer. Until May 2009 he served as CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany's biggest railway company. He served as CEO of Germany's second largest airline Air Berlin unt ...

, chairman of Deutsche Bahn (DB), stated in March 2008 that regularly scheduled, weekly China-Germany freight services should be in operation by 2010. In April 2009, however, DB postponed the service indefinitely because of the global economic crisis. Another test run, from Chongqing to

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

via

crossing,

, Russia,

, and Poland took place in March–April 2011, covering in 16 days. It was again said by DB that if there is enough demand, the service can be made regular already in 2011, As of March 2014, the Chonqing-Duisburg route makes three weekly services carrying up to 50 forty-foot-long containers. Andrzej Duda i Xi Jinping w 2016

The transportation authorities in another industrial center of central China,

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

, plan to organize regular runs of direct freight train between Wuhan and European destinations (Czech Republic, Poland, Germany) starting in April 2014. Plans call for the service starting from 1–2 trains per month in April–June 2014, gradually increasing the frequency to 1–2 trains per week in 2015. A new customs facility is under construction in Wuhan's Wujiashan (吴家山) industrial area; after its planned opening in October 2015, exports from the Wuhan region will be able to clear Chinese customs there, instead of

. By 2016, the freight rail service between a number of container terminals in China and their counterparts in Europe has become fairly regular. Between some city pairs, there is one train per week. Both with respect to cost and speed, the China-Europe direct train service is in between the air and sea options. While it is estimated that the overall volume of goods moving between China and Europe by rail is not going to surpass 1–2% of the sea cargo volume, it may eat significantly into the air cargo volume. The service is typically used for valuable and somewhat time-sensitive cargo where the time advantage of rail over ship is essential, which, however, is heavy enough to make the cost saving vs. air transport noticeable. Typical cargoes include complex machinery and spare parts (in both directions), as well as high-end groceries and consumer goods (primarily toward China). While major customers ship their products by full container load, freight forwarders also make it possible to send less-than-container shipments. On the European end of the freight route, the rail terminal near

's river port (

Ruhrort Ruhrort () is a district in the borough of within the German city of Duisburg situated north of the confluence of the Ruhr and the Rhine, in the western part of the Ruhr area. Ruhrort has the largest river harbour in the World, with quays extendin ...

) is a major destination. According to a 2018 report, Duisburg is either the destination, or one of the destinations, of some 80% of all direct China-Western Europe cargo trains.

New Eurasian Land Bridge

The New Eurasian Land Bridge, also called the New Eurasian Continental Bridge, is the name given to China's rail link with Central Asia. The route includes China's east–west railways which, in addition to the Beijiang line, are the Longhai Railway and the

Lanzhou–Xinjiang Railway The Lanzhou−Xinjiang railway or Lanxin railway (), is the longest railway in Northwestern China. It runs 1904 kilometres (1,183 miles) from Lanzhou, Gansu, through the Hexi Corridor, to Ürümqi, in Xinjiang. It was Xinjiang's only rail link ...

. Together, the railways create an uninterrupted rail link between the port city of

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

province and Kazakhstan. In 1995 the Chinese and Kazakhstan governments signed an agreement which allows the latter to use Lianyungang as its primary seaport for exports and imports, and the former intends for Lianyungang to serve as the designated starting point for the New Eurasian Land Bridge. From Almaty in Kazakhstan, the railway extends to

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

and Samarkand, Uzbekistan and then to

Tejen Tejen (older spellings: Tedzhen, Tejend, Tejent) is an oasis city with district status in the Karakum Desert, in Ahal Province of Turkmenistan. It lies along the M37 highway, between Dushak and Mary, by road southeast of Ashgabat. It has a p ...

, Turkmenistan. From Tejen, another line continues to

Ashgabat Ashgabat or Asgabat ( tk, Aşgabat, ; fa, عشق‌آباد, translit='Ešqābād, formerly named Poltoratsk ( rus, Полтора́цк, p=pəltɐˈratsk) between 1919 and 1927), is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It lie ...

, the capital of Turkmenistan. After Ashgabat, the line ends at

Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan Türkmenbaşy ( Turkmen Cyrillic: Түркменбашы, Turkmen Arabic; توركمنباشی, also spelled Turkmenbashi, a back-formation of the Cyrillic Түркменбаши), formerly known as Krasnovodsk (russian: Красноводск), ...

, a port on the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

.Ōtsuka, p. 44. (After a direct rail link between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan opened, it became possible for the freight to bypass Uzbekistan, which has poor relations with its neighbors). In 1996 a branch railway from Tejen was constructed across the border with

(at

Serakhs Sarahs (, also written Saraghs, Serahs, Sarakhs, Saragt, or Serakhs, the last a backformation of russian: Серахс) is an oasis city in Ahal Province, Turkmenistan, and the administrative center of Sarahs district ( tk, Sarahs etraby). It is ...

) and linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways. The link potentially enables rail freight from China to reach ports on the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

and via other train lines, to reach into the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. In 2016, direct container train service was inaugurated on this route, between

Yiwu Yiwu () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, East China. As of the 2020 census, the city had 1,859,390 inhabitants and its built-up (or metro) area, joined with that of the neighboring Dongy ...

(

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

Province) and

Teheran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

; the trip takes 14 days. The central Asian route did not extend all the way into Europe until October 2013 when the rail link across the Bosphorus though the

link was opened. Iranian rail lines use gauge, requiring freight cars transiting from China into Iran to change wheel gauges twice. The train ferry across

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...

is also a capacity restriction. Chinese state media claims that the New Eurasian Land/Continental Bridge extends from Lianyungang to

, a distance of . The exact route used to connect the two cities, whether through Mongolia or Kazakhstan, however, is unclear.

Iron Silk Road via Turkey

An alternative way from China to Europe is via Turkey. The route from China follows Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey. Due to longer distance, insufficient service, and border crossings, this route has not regularly been used for direct transport from China to Europe. However, work is underway to improve the viability of this route, such as the

Marmaray project The Marmaray () is a intercontinental commuter rail line in Istanbul, Turkey. A rail tunnel running under the Bosphorus strait was connected to an upgraded version of the old suburban train service (known as the banliyö), allowing trains ...

to connect Europe and Asia via a tunnel under the Bosphorus. After the completion of the project, a continuous run of trains will be possible between Asia and Europe, which is now done by rail ferry service. But the Marmaray tunnel may give a limited service to freight trains due to dense usage by public transport. On 7 November 2019 the first Chinese freight train through the Marmaray tunnel to Europe ran, from

Xi’an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...

using a Chinese locomotive. This demonstrated a China to Turkey transportation time reduced from a month to 12 days. The

Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway The Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK), or Baku–Tbilisi–Akhalkalaki–Kars railway (BTAK), is an international rail link project connecting Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, which became operational on 30 October 2017 following several years of delay ...

also provides a route via the Caspian Sea by bypassing Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The new railway lines constructed in Kazakhstan will make it shorter. The new route, in this case, is China–Kazakhstan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Turkey.

Break of gauge issues

The former countries of the USSR, as well as Mongolia and Finland, use a

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...

of . The international standard gauge used in most of Europe and China is . As a result, trains cannot run from China or European countries into or out of the former USSR without changing bogies. Large facilities to carry out this procedure exist at most border crossing between the "

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

" and "

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

" gauge territories (e.g., at

) Changing the bogies on a rail car takes hours and special, heavy equipment. In many cases (especially, containerized freight), freight is transshipped from one train to another instead of changing the bogies. As of 2016, this is the usual procedure with China-Europe container trains at places such as

; it is reported that containers can be moved from one train to another in as little as 47 minutes. In the case of liquids, frozen goods and hazardous materials, however, the bogies are usually changed. It has been suggested that on some lines variable-gauge axles would achieve significant time savings in comparison to

bogie exchange Bogie exchange is a system for operating railway wagons on two or more gauges to overcome difference in the track gauge. To perform a bogie exchange, a car is converted from one gauge to another by removing the bogies or trucks (the chassis cont ...

. However, their implementation would involve a much higher capital cost, requiring either

retrofitting Retrofitting is the addition of new technology or features to older systems. Retrofits can happen for a number of reasons, for example with big capital expenditures like naval vessels, military equipment or manufacturing plants, businesses or go ...

or replacement of existing bogies.

Proposed development

Expansion projects

On 10 March 2004 the Kazakhstan Railway Company Ltd announced that it was looking for investors to fund the construction of a railway stretching from China across Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea that would be the same gauge as Chinese railways. Thus, the railway would allow trains from China to cross Kazakhstan without having to change bogies. The reported construction cost of the new railway was $3.5 billion. Chinese media reported that the railway would complete the link between China and Europe via central Asia, but it is unclear where the actual link to Europe would be. Also unclear is whether construction has yet to begin on the project. The governments of India and

have proposed building, with China's cooperation, a link to the Eurasian Land Bridge that would start in India or Burma and connect to the Chinese rail system in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

. The route would allow freight from India and Burma to travel overland to Europe. The link would also give rail access for China to the Indian Ocean. One proposed starting point for the route is

Kyaukpyu Kyaukpyu ( my, ကျောက်ဖြူမြို့ ; also spelt Kyaukphyu) is a major town in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar. It is located on the north western corner of Yanbye Island on Combermere Bay, and is 250 miles (400 ...

. The governments of

and

are also studying the feasibility of establishing rail links with China. Both Russia and China are seeking to establish a permanent rail link with South Korea by way of

to allow South Korean goods to be shipped to Europe via the Eurasian Land Bridge. According to Choi Yeon-Hye, a professor of marketing and management at the Korea National Railway College, a rail connection from

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

to Rotterdam would cut shipping time from 26 to 16 days and save $800 per container of freight. As part of its plan to link the Trans-Siberian to North and South Korea, Russia rebuilt its rail link from Khasan to Rajin, finishing in October 2011. The South Korean government announced on 2 December 2009 that it would conduct an economic and technical study on the feasibility of constructing undersea tunnels for transporting goods and people to and from the country directly to Kyushu, Japan and Shandong, China. The

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

has advocated greater regional integration along the Eurasian Land Bridge, including development of rail links between the countries of South and Southeast Asia and Central Asia, called the Trans-Asian Railway project. Chinese leaders have called for the establishment of

free trade zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to cu ...

s at both ends of the Eurasian Land Bridge to facilitate development. Said Khalid Malik, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, "If this comes true, it will enable the continental bridge to play its due role in enhancing co-operation between Asia and Europe, and promoting world peace and development." In 2010 and 2011, China announced plans to finance expansion of the rail systems in Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam and connect them to China's rail system via Kunming. The plans include construction of a high-speed rail line from Kunming to

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

, beginning in April 2011, with a possible future extension to

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. On 15 December 2011, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that a rail link was being considered between Sakhalin Island and Japan. The rail line, constructed in an undersea tunnel, would link Japan to the Trans-Siberian.

Bering Strait link

In April 2007 the Russian government announced that it was considering building a double track broad gauge rail tunnel under the Bering Strait between Chukotka and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. The tunnel, as projected, would be long and would include oil and gas pipelines,

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

cables and power lines. The tunnel project was estimated to cost $65 billion and take between 15 and 20 years to build. In addition to the Russian government, sponsors of the project apparently include

Transneft Joint Stock Company Transneft (russian: Транснефть) is a state-controlled pipeline transport company headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It is the largest oil pipeline company in the world. Transneft is operating over of trunk pipeline ...

and RAO United Energy Systems. The project, as envisioned, would connect the Trans-Siberian via Komsomolsk-on-Amur/

Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one ...

in Siberian Russia with the North American rail network (gauge to be widened) at

Fort Nelson, British Columbia Fort Nelson is a community in northeast British Columbia, Canada, within the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM). It held town status prior to 6 February 2009, when it amalgamated with the former Northern Rockies Regional District to ...

, Canada, a distance of . A significant hurdle for the project is that the nearest major road to the Russian end of the tunnel is away. In addition, Alaska has no direct rail link to either Canada or the contiguous United States. Other leaders, including

Wally Hickel Walter Joseph Hickel (August 18, 1919 – May 7, 2010) was an American businessman, real estate developer, and politician who served as the second governor of Alaska from 1966 to 1969 and 1990 to 1994 and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from ...

Lyndon LaRouche Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspira ...

, Sun Myung Moon, and the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

have also advocated the construction of a tunnel or bridge across the strait.

High-speed rail

It was reported in the press in March 2007 that China intends to build a high-speed rail link between China and Western Europe with the possibility of a high-speed rail journey from Beijing to London taking just two days. In February 2011, the Chinese government announced that it would jointly sponsor the construction of a high-speed rail line between Astana and Almaty in Kazakhstan. The announced completion date was 2015.An Lu (

Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

),
Vice premier: high-speed railway project, new highlight of Sino-Kazakh co-op
"
The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China
22 February 2011; retrieved 25 February 2011.

Citations

General references

Print

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Web

* * * * * * * *

Further information

* * {{Good article Economic history of Russia Economic integration Economy of Siberia Economy of the Russian Far East Economy of Vladivostok History of foreign trade in China History of rail transport International bridges International railway lines in Asia International railway lines in Europe International railway lines Belt and Road Initiative Passenger rail transport Rail cooperatives Rail freight transport Rail transport in Asia Rail transport in China Rail transport in Europe Rail transport in Kazakhstan Rail transport in Russia Transnationalism Transport in the Russian Far East