Central Asia’s Rail Network and the Eurasian Land Bridgejrtr.net/jrtr28/pdf/f42_ots.pdf · the...

42 Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001

Central Asian Railways and Europe–Asia Land Bridge

Feature

Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Central Asia’s Rail Network andthe Eurasian Land Bridge

Shigeru Otsuka

The Silk Road Reborn

There have been trade routes betweenAsia and Europe since the dawn of humanhistory, culminating in the famous SilkRoad that ran a magnificent 15,000 kmbetween Xi’an in China and the RomanEmpire. It carried many commoditiessuch as silks, gems, gold, silver, carpets,glass, turquoise, paper, spices, etc., fromancient times in both directions betweenAsia and Europe.In addition to trade, the Silk Road was ahighway of exchange for culture, art,religion and knowledge. However, it wasnot a well-defined highway in the modernsense, but was more a general route fortraders travelling between east and westby camel, donkey cart, and on foot. Thelong, difficult and dangerous journeyacross baking deserts, wind- and rain-swept mountains, and swollen riverschanged depending on the period, localruler, climate and location of oases,caravan posts and bazaars. Alexander theGreat, Ghengis Khan, Tamerlane andother historical figures passed this way tofight battles and establish empires thatwould flower and wither.

By the 16th century, European voyagershad discovered a south passage to Asiaaround the Cape of Good Hope and theAmericas were being explored. In the17th century, Spain, Portugal and Englandvied for dominance of maritime tradebetween Asia and Europe, sealing the fateof the slower land route. Over thefollowing centuries, the European powersand Russia extended their sphere ofinfluence into the territories of the SilkRoad and new national boundarieschanged the traders’ freedom of mobility.Gradually, the Silk Road lost its purposeand its trade died out.Four centuries later, although the SilkRoad has lost its role as a transportationcorridor, many of the oases have becomebusy towns with bustling bazaars and theblue tiles of the minarets have not lost theirshine. Tourists to the area still appreciatethe romance and many reminders of theSilk Road.But now, after many vicissitudes, there isonce again a trade land route between eastand west—not by camel or donkey butby railway. In 1991, the existing east–west lines of national railways inKazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan were linked to

the tracks of the Railways of the People’sRepublic of China. This historical eventwas made possible by the collapse of theSoviet Union and the new independenceof these five central Asian countries.Instead of linking China to the SovietUnion, the railway suddenly connectedChina to Central Asia.In 1996, the railway in Turkmenistan wasextended southwards across the borderwith Iran to connect with the network ofIranian Islamic Republic Railways. Thus,the east–west line had reached the PersianGulf, with links to the Caucasus andTurkey, becoming an important tradeartery for Eurasia, just like the old SilkRoad.However, it still does not reach Europe—gaps remain, and in civil disturbances inother parts make passage difficult. At thepresent, the ‘Silk Railway’ links CentralAsia to China and Iran, but there is noland bridge joining Central Asia toEurope.The only other uninterrupted linepermitting travel from Europe to thePacific is the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The China Land Bridge

China’s east–west main lines are theLonghai Line from Xi’an to Lanzhou, theLanxin Line from Lanzhou to Ürümqi, andthe Beijiang Line from Ürümqi toA l a s h a n k o u . T h i s c r e a t e s a nuninterrupted rail link from east to west

The Silk Road express runs in Eastern Kazakhstan linking Almaty and Ürümqi. (Author)

The origin and destination of the Silk Road expressare shown in four languages: Kazak (top left),Russian (bottom left), Chinese (top right) and English.

(Author)

43Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

China, running more or less parallel toTianshan Beilu, one ancient route of theSilk Road.From Alashankou, the line continues westacross the border between China andKazakhstan. Druzhba, the first station inKazakhstan, is 20 km west of Alashankou.From there, the tracks continue another320 km west to Aktogay, where they linkup with one of Kazakhstan’s main lines.This completes China’s land bridgebeginning at the Paci f ic por t ofLianyungang.The land bridge took many years tocomplete, partly because of the complexand changing political landscape in Chinaand the former USSR. China’s railwaynetwork only extended as far west asLanzhou, and there was no rail linebetween Druzhba and Aktogay in theSoviet Union. However, in 1954, whenrelations between the two countries wereextremely cordial, they announced plansto construct a new railway linking the twoend lines. Agreement was reached onconstruction of the Ürümqi–Aktogaysection in 1956, and the Druzhba–Aktogay section was completed in 1959.But deteriorating relations in the early1960s caused China to halt constructionof the Ürümqi–Alashankou sectionalthough the Lanxin Line betweenLanzhou and Ürümqi had opened in1962. With construction in China halted,no trains ran on the newly completed

section between Druzhba and Aktogay,which was left abandoned for the next 30or so years.After the thaw in Chinese–Soviet relationsi n 1 9 8 5 , C h i n a r e c o m m e n c e dconstruction of the Beijiang Line betweenÜrümqi and Alashankou. The line wasfinished in 1990, linking the Chinese andSoviet rail networks at Druzhba on 16September 1990. Freight trains beganrunning on the line in July 1991 followedby passenger trains in June 1992. Thisestablished a direct link between Almaty,then the capital of Kazakhstan andÜrümqi in China. Ironically, with thecollapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, bythe time operations officially began inSeptember 1992, the line linked Chinawith the newly independent Kazakhstan.Since then, trains have been providing adirect link between Lanzhou in China andTashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, viaAlmaty. However, by late 2000, the directlink has been shortened, only joiningÜrümqi to Almaty, with two return runseach week, one operated by China, andthe other by Kazakhstan. The traincarriages bear the name Zihbek Zholy(meaning Silk Road) in bold letters, anappropriate name because this prestigiousinternational train with private doublesleeping carriages and restaurant carfollows the route of the ancient Silk Road.Although China’s rail land bridge iscomplete, no single passenger train

crosses the bridge from one end to theother, presumably because there is littlepassenger demand. Today, only freighttrains operate on some sections and thereare still many hurdles to overcome beforethe line can function as a true land bridge.The most serious are gauge differencesthat require time-consuming bogiechanges, and bothersome Customsprocedures hindering cross-borderexchange of people and freight.In addition, the track between Druzhbaand Aktogay was abandoned for 30 yearsand is in such bad condition that fasterrunning speeds are risky. In 1995, thegovernment of Japan provided yen loansfor repairs and other improvements andwork is now completed.

The East–West Line Today

The east–west line from China crossinginto Kazakhstan soon links up with themost easterly of four north–south lines atAktogay, which leads southwest to Almaty,the former capital of Kazakhstan, and thenwest. Almaty is at the southern edge of alarge plain that suffers many seriousearthquakes, explaining why the capitalwas relocated north to Astana (formerlyAkmora and Tselinograd even furtherback). Astana, which means ‘The Capital’in the Kazak language, is an air, rail androad hub with 2-hour connections to

Silk Road express at Druzhuba Station (Author) Platform at Druzhba Station with a four-rail trak for trains from both direction. Thecarriages exchage bogies at adjacent depot while passengers on board. (Author)




major centres around the country.Although Almaty is no longer the capital,it is still the country’s largest city, andremains the centre of commerce, cultureand education.About 1000 km west of Almaty, thecontinuance of the east–west line crossesinto Uzbekistan and enters Tashkent, thecapital. Tashkent is Central Asia’s largestcity and has a population of more than 2million. It is the only city in Central Asiawith a subway and flourished centuriesago as a Silk Road oasis and hub.From Tashkent, the line continueswestwards for about 350 km toSamarkand, an important city on theancient Silk Road and called the City ofTurquoise Blue today. The many ancientruins at Samarkand make it a major touristdestination along with Bukhara, Khiva andUrgench.Another 1000 km west, the line reachesAsgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. Butbefore reaching Asgabat, a southerly linebranches off at Tedzhen heading for thetown of Sarakhs at the border with Iran.The change of gauge at this bordercrossing requires a time-consumingchange of bogies before trains cancontinue on into Iran.A 300-km line was constructed with muchdifficulty from Serakhs to Mashhad, theterminus for the Iranian Islamic RepublicRailways line from Tehran. It opened in1996.The line south from Tehran goes via Sirjan

the Bosporus Strait to complete the landbridge all the way from the east coast ofChina through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey to Europe.However, the desert border betweenChina and Kazakhstan (formerly theChina–USSR border) still has watchtowersalong a long metal fence, and there arealso buildings that appear to bewatchtowers on the border mountainsbetween the former Soviet Union and Iran.These structures remind us of the tensionsexisting between countries in this region.Border tensions are also heightened bycivil and other wars west of Iran.

Background to Central AsianRailway Network

The five central Asian countries ofKazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan were part of the15 republics making up the former SovietUnion. During the Stalinist period, thevarious stages of industrial production—manu fac tu r ing , p roce s s ing andconsumption—were divided among therepublics to prevent them from separatingf r o m t h e U S S R a n d b e c o m i n gindependent. For example, crude oilproduced in one republic would berefined in another and then consumed ina third. This division enabled Moscow tocontrol regional economies and preventthe breakup of the USSR into independentnations.Once the Communist Party in the SovietUnion collapsed, the republics quicklydeclared their independence, ralliedaround their own national identities,issued their own currency, and threw offMoscow’s yoke. The previous division ofthe various stages of industrial production,created enormous difficulties and stateswithout the size and advantages ofcountries like Russia and Ukraine beganto exper ience ser ious economicdifficulties. Central Asia is rich inagricultural and mineral resources, so

Almaty Station, Kazakhstan (Author)

to Bandar-e Abbas on the Persian Gulf,giving maritime access to the landlockedcountries of Central Asia. But only localpassenger services are offered at presentand there is no direct service from theTurkmenistan–Iran border to the sea.The line running west from Tehran passesthrough Tabriz, then crosses the Iran–Turkey border at Kapicoi, about 870 kmwest of Tehran and continues another 100km to the eastern bank of Lake Van. Thereis no line around the lake and regionalconflict has made it difficult to conduct aline survey. A ferry used to connect Van,on the eastern side with the rail terminusof Tatvan on the western side, but reportsindicate that it has been suspended.From Tatvan, the line continues viaAnkara, the capital of Turkey, to Hay darpasa Station in eastern Istanbul on theeastern side of the Bosporus Strait. Thereis no rail link across the Bosporus to Sirkei,the departure point for trains to Europe.There is talk of a rail tunnel under theBosporus but concrete action is still manyyears away.One other line extends northwest forabout 550 km from Ashkhabad, the capitalof Turkmenistan, to the Caspian Sea portof Turkmenbashi, formerly calledKrasnovodsk. This is the end of east–westtrunk line. A ferry connects Turkmenbashito Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on thewest side of the sea.As the above description shows, tracksmust be laid only at Lake Van and under


under the old regime, this region wastreated as a provider of raw materials,most of which were transported northwestto Ukraine and north to Russia forprocessing. The final commodities werethen sent to markets in Moscow, Europeand elsewhere.Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are alllandlocked, and Uzbekistan has theunique distinction of having onlylandlocked neighbours too. (There areonly two doubly landlocked countries andthe other one is Liechtenstein, surroundedby Switzerland and Austria.) Rail and roadare the only surface transport options inthese countries. Road transport offers littlehope because the roads are in poorcondition and there are few trucks.Therefore, the railways of the region haveplayed a major role in transportation,carrying almost 90% of all surface freight.Since most raw materials from this regionmoved north during the Soviet era,railways were constructed with a generalnorth–south orientation. Likewise,passengers travelled to and from Moscowin the north, and there was little demandfor east–west passenger traffic.This political and economic historyexplains why the region’s railway networkhas only one east–west line and fournorth–south lines. Although adequate inthe days of the Soviet Union, the newindependence of the five countries hasseen a change to east–west passenger andfreight patterns as links to China in theeast and Iran in the southwest offermarkets in the Pacific and Persian Gulf.The impact of the old Soviet division ofindustry between the various republicscan also be seen in the maintenance ofrolling stock. Inspection and repair ofdiesel and electric locomotives, electriccars, passenger carriages and freightwagons was entrusted to workshops indifferent republics. If a certain type ofrolling stock could not be inspected orrepaired in the local republic, it would

be sent to another. This was not a majorproblem when the Soviet Ministry ofTransport issued orders from Moscow,because planning was carried out on apan-USSR scale and work was paid for inrubles.Bu t p rob lems became apparen timmediately after independence and lossof central control. Rolling stock sent forrepair to another country was acceptedonly grudgingly and repairs werepostponed. Unsatisfactory work becamea problem and bills had to be paid in thenew currency of the country making therepair. If the country paying the bill didnot have that currency, it had to pay inhard-earned US dollars.Rolling stock cannot be used after itsinspection deadline has passed and trainsstop running when inspections are notcarried out. Therefore, Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan,and Tajikistan need to build their ownmodern rolling stock maintenance yards.To promote these goals, the governmentof Japan is providing yen loans toK a z a k h s t a n , U z b e k i s t a n a n dTurkmenistan.At independence, the rolling stock controlcontrolled by the Ministry of Transport in

Moscow was divided among the newlyindependent countries. Much of it wasworn out and yen loans are beingprovided to replace old rolling stock andconstruct new equipment.In the countries of the former SovietUnion, locomotives are generallypowered by AC electricity. However, DClocomotives run on DC electrified trackin some areas, particularly Moscow andits surroundings. Lines that have not beenelectrified – including most lines inCentral Asia – use diesel locomotives, ofcourse.Alternating voltage is 25,000 V, frequency50 Hz. Most electr ic passengerlocomotives have an operating power of8400 kW. AC locomotives in Japan havea maximum operating power of 3600 kW.This difference highlights the continentalnature of transportation in these countries;the power is more than one would assumenecessary, even though the wider gaugetrack requires larger locomotives, and thelonger trains travel longer distances. Themaximum operating power for CentralAsian freight locomotives – 10,000 kW –is even greater.Diesel locomotive horsepower rangesfrom 3000 to 4000 hp, with some test

Soviet-built Class VL80 electric locomotive in Uzbekistan (Author)




models in the 6000 hp range.Many freight cars are huge, with 8 axles.These cars have a capacity in the rangeof 125 tonnes per car. (In Japan it is amere 30 to 40 tonnes per car.) Highercapacity is needed to raise freight volumeand reduce train length.All rolling stock in former Soviet Unioncountries is large, and many cars are ofthe same type, making modernizationdifficult. Some locomotives from the1950s are still in use.Train travel can take days, so allp a s s e n g e r c a r s h a v e s l e e p i n gaccommodations. The most commontype of sleeping car has four-passengercompartments, with lower and upperberths aligned at right angles to thedirection of travel. Some cars havecompartments for two people, othershave open accommodations for groupsof eight.Each car has one conductor, a woman inmany cases. Conductors provideinformation, check t ickets, serverefreshments, and keep fuel burning inheating stoves during cold parts of theyear. Each car has its own heating system– a locomotive-powered centralizedsystem is not used because a breakdowncould result in people freezing to deathin mid-winter.In some extremely rare cases, coaches arealso used on long-haul routes. Sinceindependence, Central Asian countrieshave introduced new coaches for short-haul travel.

The Four North–South LinesToday

As explained above, the four main linesof Central Asia have a general north–southorientation. Two connect with the Trans-Siberian Railroad in the north, and theother two converge on Moscow. Theeasternmost of these lines is about 1700-km long and runs from Almaty north pastAktogay to Novorsibirsk on the Trans-

Siberian. The next line to the west is about1800-km long and much has beenelectrified. It connects with the Trans-Siberian at Omsk and Yekaterinburg, viaPetropavlovsk. From Petropavlovsk theline runs south through Astana, the newcapital of Kazakhstan, and then connectswith the east–west line at Chu. Almatylies to the east of Chu on east–west line.The third and fourth (most westerly) linesbegin in Moscow and its suburban andrun southeast. One line passes east of theAral Sea, while the other passes its west.They connect with the east–west line atArys’ and Chardzhou, respectively.

Major Services on CentralAsian Network

During the Soviet era, express trainslinked Moscow with the capitals of thevarious republics. And even today theKazakhstan express train runs betweenMoscow and Almaty, the UzbekistanExpress between Moscow and Tashkent,and the Kirgizia express train betweenMoscow and Bishkek, the capital ofKyrgystan. The network used by thesethree express trains is sometimes calledthe Eurasian Railway.An express that runs between Moscowand Asgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan,on the most westerly of the north–southlines, passes close to the west coast of theAral Sea, but is not listed in the ThomasCook timetable for some reason.There is little current information abouttrain operations in Tajikistan, which is stillin the throes of civil war. Several yearsago, there was an express service betweenMoscow and Dushanbe, Tajikistan’scapital, but it seems to have beensuspended.In addition to these direct services toMoscow, about seven trains also run onthe north–south main lines. Eight expressor rapid trains connect the Kazakhstancapital of Astana with the former capitalof Almaty. Express and rapid trains bound

for Moscow or connections with theTrans-Siberian Railroad take the east–west line to main junctions, and then turnnorth onto the north–south lines.Services on the east–west line includefour return runs between Almaty andTashkent, and two trains betweenTashkent and Samarkand. However,there is no direct service between Almatyand Asgabat.Interestingly, even after independence, theconnections between Russia and the fivenations of Central Asia are still better thanthe connections between the nations,reflecting the pattern of demand.

Different Time Zones andTrack Gauges

Any discussion of railways in Eurasia mustmention time zones and track gauges.

Time differencesAs we all know, there is a 1-hourdifference in time by the sun between twolocations separated by 15 degrees oflongitude. Dealing with time differencesis a headache for transportation managers.In the case of air travel, departure andarrival times are indicated in local timesso air passengers simply adjust theirwatches to the local time at theirdestination.On the other hand, for long-distance trainstravelling east–west, the time on board thetrain changes each time the train crossesa time zone, but station times do notnecessarily reflect local times.For land transport, there are three waysto deal with time differences as follows: • One standard time over entire territory

China covers a vast east–west expansebut uses only Beijing Time for thewhole country. From a transportscheduling point of view, this systemis the easiest because travel time is thesame as the difference in time betweendeparture and arrival. However, as aresult, the time by the sun does not


correspond with the time by the clockin many parts of the country. If Chinaused time zones, there would be threeor four, but under the current system,when it is dawn at 05:00 in Beijing, itis still dark in the Uygur AutonomousRegion to the northwest where it dawnarrives at 08:00 or 09:00.

• Local timeIn the USA, Canada and elsewhere,train schedules use local time. Trainand car travellers put their watches 1hour forward or back each time theycross into another time zone. As aresult, travel time is not the same asthe difference in time betweendeparture and arrival. In the extremecase of two adjacent stations separatedby a time zone border, if the actualtravel time is 5 minutes, the timetableappears to indicate a travel time of 65minutes in one direction and 55minutes in the other.Using local time for schedules doesnot present a problem as far as therelative posit ion of the sun isconcerned.

• Standard Railway TimeThis method was used in the formerSoviet Union and is still used in the

Figure 1 Trans-Eurasia Networks

f ive countries of Central Asia.However, only the railway usesStandard Railway Time for railwaytimetables and local time is followedfor ordinary life. Standard RailwayTime and local time are only the samein Moscow’s time zone.The former Soviet Union stretchedeast–west almost half way around thenorthern hemisphere. Kaliningrad isthe most westerly location at 20°Ewhile Cape Dezhneva is the mosteasterly at 170°W. Such a vastlongitudinal spread should call for 12time zones, but there are only 11because all European parts of theformer Soviet Union are in the sametime zone. Consequently, when it is07:00 in Moscow, it is 18:00 at CapeDezhneva.There is a difference of 7 hours alongthe tracks from Moscow to the easternports on the Pacific Ocean. Thus localtime on the Pacific differs fromStandard Railway Time by 7 hours.The departure time for the expresspassenger train Russia leavingVladivostok for Moscow is shown as17:00 both on the station display andin the Thomas Cook timetable.

According to the schedule, the traintakes 8 days to travel the full lengthof the Trans-Siberian line. However,the listed departure time of 17:00 isStandard Railway Time and the localVladivostok time is actually midnightthe next day. The train is scheduledto arrive in Moscow at 06:15, whichis listed on the Vladivostok scheduleas 13:15 the same day, meaning thatthe journey takes only 7 days forsomeone boarding at Vladivostok.The Khabarovsk station buildingclock is famous for its three hands ofone long black hand and two shorthands—one black and one red. Theshort and long black hands indicateKhabarovsk local time while the shortred and long black hand indicateStandard Railway Time (Moscowlocal time).Using Standard Railway Time, thedifference between arrival anddeparture times equals the travel timebut for someone not used to this system,the difference between StandardRailway Time and local times along theline can be most confusing.In Central Asia, there is a 3-hour timedifference between Moscow and

Moscow

Yekaterinburg

Omsk

Petropavlosk

Van Lake

TatvanTabriz

Tehran

Ashkhabad

Urgench

Aral’ SeaAral’ Sea

Bukhara

Chardzhou Dushanbe

Bishkek

Almaty

AlashankouDruzhba

Aktogay

Longhai LineLonghai Line

Xi’an

Beijing

Ulaanbaatar

Baykal LakeBaykal Lake

Tayshet

Baykal-Amur Railway

ShanghaiShanghai

Pyongyang

LiangungangLiangungangTokyoTokyo

Pyongyang

VladivostokVladivostok

Lanzhou

Lanxin Line

BeijiangLineTashkent

Samarkand

Arys’Chu

Caspian SeaCaspian Sea

Baku

Persian Gulf

Trans-Siberian Railroad

To Is

tan

bul v

ia A

nka

ra

Urumqi

Persian Gulf




Almaty, and a 2-hour differencebetween Moscow and Tashkent. Thus,the timetable has the Silk Road expresstrain departing Almaty at 18:45although the local time is 21:45.

For many years, Thomas Cook’s WorldTimetables have contained the followingnotice for rail services in Central Asiancountries:“At present the trains still operate toMoskva time, but a change to local timemay occur in the future.”But such a changeover would involvemuch time and preparation. We cantherefore assume that this notice willcontinue to appear in the timetables forsome time, even though the countries arekeen to demonstrate their independenceby using local time.

Gauge differencesAnother troublesome problem sometimesencountered is the difference in trackgauges.Generally, when the track gauge isdifferent, a train cannot run continuouslyfrom one rail section of one gauge to arail section of another gauge. (Newautomatic change-of-gauge technologies,such as Talgo in Spain and ‘free gauge’ in

Japan, have been developed to permitthrough operations on different gauges butthey are not in widespread commercialuse yet.)Countries of the former Soviet Union usethe broad gauge of 1520 mm while mostneighbouring countries use the standardgauge of 1435 mm. As a result, trainscrossing from China and Iran intoKazakhstan, and Turkmenistan mustchange bogies, or the passengers andgoods must transfer to a new wagon.At Druzhba on the border between Chinaand Kazakhstan, passenger trains changebogies while most freight is transshipped.This is impractical for freight such asliquids, frozen goods and hazardousmaterials, so the wagon bogies arechanged in the se ca se s . Bo thtransshipment and bogie changes requirea lot of heavy lifting equipment and theSilk Road express stops for about 5 hoursto complete the change of gauge.The same change-of-gauge problemoccurs at many other borders throughoutthe world. For example, in Europe, trainsfrom Russia must change their bogies ortransship freight at the border with Poland.

The Trans-Siberian Railroad

A glance at any large-scale map of theEurasian continent will that there are onlytwo railway lines linking Europe andAsia—the Silk Railway through CentralAsia, and the Trans-Siberian Railroad inthe north. Figure 1 shows a complexnetwork with major spurs and branchlines, but the Trans-Siberian is prominentwest of Tayshet while the Silk Railway runsalone after it crosses from China intoKazakhstan. Eastwards along the Trans-Siberian, there is no railway north of theline until Tayshet, and then the Baykal–Amur Line branches off east and north.South of the Silk Railway, there arerailways in various countries, but there aremany gaps, such as at the borders betweenIndia and Myanmar, between Myanmarand Thailand, and between Cambodiaand Viet Nam. These southern routes offerno possibility of connections betweenAsia and Europe.Neither the Trans-Siberian Railroad northe Silk Railway offer direct connectionsfrom the Pacific to western Europe, butthe Trans-Siberian does make it possibleto travel the entire distance by changingtrains and lines in Moscow, Ukraine,Belarus and elsewhere. At 9297 km, theTrans-Siberian Railroad is still the longestin the world.There is no space here to dwell on theTrans-Siberian Railway’ importance to theeconomy of the USSR Far East, except tosay that it has played essential roles bothin war and peace.Although the postwar period saw a rise inair travel, even today the Russia expresstrain departs Vladivostok and Moscowevery 2 days for the 7-day journey. Othertrains from Beijing and Ulaanbaatar usethe Trans-Siberian tracks too. One trainfrom Pyongyang is coupled to the RussianExpress at Ussuriysk for a 9-day journeybetween the two capitals, surely thelongest regularly scheduled train service

A bogie-changing track a Druzhba Station (Author)


Shigeru Otsuka

Mr Otsuka graduated in electrical engineering from Kyoto University in 1955 before he joined JNR.

While serving as leading engineer in train operation, he was also engaged in many technical cooperation

projects for developing countries until he left JNR in 1984. He continued to work in international

projects as Executive Director of Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. until he retired in 2000.

The track extending to the east of Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan, across desert toward the Capian Sea (Author)

in the world.The long travel times and difficult transferson the Trans-Siberian Railroad put it at adisadvantage to air travel and this is eventruer for travel on the Silk Railway wherethe many Customs and immigrationprocedures are an added burden. Thisexplains why hardly any passengers travelits entire length.What about freight? Freight on the Trans-Siberian does not cross any border until itreaches a European country beyondRussia so Customs procedures arerelatively simple. However, Russia’s FarEastern ports, especially Vladivostok,Nakhodka and Bostochyni, suffer fromvery dilapidated infrastructure at rail yardsadjacent to port facilities, causing hugefreight backlogs. Other serious problemsalong the Trans-Siberian include theft,damaged freight, late trains, exorbitantfees, and uncertain scheduling for returnof containers.Although marine container transport takeslonger, it is safer, cheaper and morereliable, explaining why more and morefreight from the Far East to Europe is sentby sea and why Trans-Siberian freightvolumes are now only about 25% of theirmaximum. Talks have been held toexplore the possibility of Japan’s providingassistance to improve train operations onthe line.Freight carried on the Silk Railway fromChina is generally bound for Central Asia.From there, freight can be sent by rail viaRussia to western Europe. This is relevantwhen considering Europe-bound freightfrom Japan. The route from Japan toRotterdam via Central Asia is about 1000km shorter than the route via Vladivostokand the Trans-Siberian Railway. But thelonger Trans-Siberian route involves onlyone time-consuming transshipment orbogie change to cope with different trackgauges (for example, at the border withPoland or Slovakia), while the shorterCentral Asian route involves two.Furthermore, freight transported over the

shorter route must undergo burdensomeformalities at three or four border crossings(depending on the line taken), while thelonger route involves only one.There would be advantages to using theexisting shorter Silk Railway route andavoiding the Trans-Siberian’s uncertainscheduling and high crime rate. But theSilk Railway will not be a viable optionunless fees are reduced and customs andinspection formalities are simplified atinternational borders, and unless the timefor transshipping and bogie changes isshortened.The rail connection from Turkmenistanacross the Iranian border to the PersianGulf also offers potential. In the future,this link could be advantageous not onlyto the landlocked countries of Central Asiabut also to countries like Japan. Freightcould be sent from Japan by ship to the

Iranian port, then taken by train throughthe interior of Iran to Central Asiancountries. However, conditions at theTurkmenistan/Iran border city of Serakhswill not be favuorable to this scenario forsome time. �

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