Feature Central Asian Railways and –Asia Land Bridge

Central Asia’s Rail Network and the Eurasian Land Bridge Shigeru Otsuka

By the 16th century, European voyagers the tracks of the Railways of the People’s The Reborn had discovered a south passage to Asia Republic of . This historical event around the Cape of Good Hope and the was made possible by the collapse of the There have been trade routes between were being explored. In the and the new independence Asia and Europe since the dawn of human 17th century, Spain, Portugal and England of these five central Asian countries. history, culminating in the famous Silk vied for dominance of maritime trade Instead of linking China to the Soviet Road that ran a magnificent 15,000 km between Asia and Europe, sealing the fate Union, the railway suddenly connected between Xi’an in China and the Roman of the slower land route. Over the China to . Empire. It carried many commodities following centuries, the European powers In 1996, the railway in was such as silks, gems, gold, silver, carpets, and extended their sphere of extended southwards across the border glass, turquoise, paper, spices, etc., from influence into the territories of the Silk with to connect with the network of ancient times in both directions between Road and new national boundaries Iranian Islamic Republic Railways. Thus, Asia and Europe. changed the traders’ freedom of mobility. the east–west line had reached the Persian In addition to trade, the Silk Road was a Gradually, the Silk Road lost its purpose Gulf, with links to the and highway of exchange for culture, art, and its trade died out. , becoming an important trade religion and knowledge. However, it was Four centuries later, although the Silk artery for , just like the old Silk not a well-defined highway in the modern Road has lost its role as a transportation Road. sense, but was more a general route for corridor, many of the oases have become However, it still does not reach Europe— traders travelling between east and west busy towns with bustling bazaars and the gaps remain, and in civil disturbances in by camel, donkey cart, and on foot. The blue tiles of the minarets have not lost their other parts make passage difficult. At the long, difficult and dangerous journey shine. Tourists to the area still appreciate present, the ‘Silk Railway’ links Central across baking deserts, wind- and rain- the romance and many reminders of the Asia to China and Iran, but there is no swept mountains, and swollen rivers Silk Road. land bridge joining Central Asia to changed depending on the period, local But now, after many vicissitudes, there is Europe. ruler, climate and location of oases, once again a trade land route between east The only other uninterrupted line caravan posts and bazaars. Alexander the and west—not by camel or donkey but permitting travel from Europe to the Great, Ghengis Khan, Tamerlane and by railway. In 1991, the existing east– Pacific is the Trans-Siberian Railway. other historical figures passed this way to west lines of national railways in fight battles and establish empires that , , Turkmenistan, would flower and wither. , and were linked to The China Land Bridge

China’s east–west main lines are the Longhai Line from Xi’an to , the Lanxin Line from Lanzhou to Ürümqi, and the Beijiang Line from Ürümqi to . This creates an uninterrupted rail link from east to west

The origin and destination of the Silk Road express are shown in four languages: Kazak (top left), Russian (bottom left), Chinese (top right) and English. The Silk Road express runs in Eastern Kazakhstan linking and Ürümqi. (Author) (Author)

42 Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Silk Road express at Druzhuba Station (Author) Platform at Druzhba Station with a four-rail trak for trains from both direction. The carriages exchage at adjacent depot while passengers on board. (Author)

China, running more or less parallel to section between Druzhba and Aktogay, crosses the bridge from one end to the Tianshan Beilu, one ancient route of the which was left abandoned for the next 30 other, presumably because there is little Silk Road. or so years. passenger demand. Today, only freight From Alashankou, the line continues west After the thaw in Chinese–Soviet relations trains operate on some sections and there across the border between China and in 1985, China recommenced are still many hurdles to overcome before Kazakhstan. Druzhba, the first station in construction of the Beijiang Line between the line can function as a true land bridge. Kazakhstan, is 20 km west of Alashankou. Ürümqi and Alashankou. The line was The most serious are gauge differences From there, the tracks continue another finished in 1990, linking the Chinese and that require time-consuming 320 km west to Aktogay, where they link Soviet rail networks at Druzhba on 16 changes, and bothersome Customs up with one of Kazakhstan’s main lines. September 1990. Freight trains began procedures hindering cross-border This completes China’s land bridge running on the line in July 1991 followed exchange of people and freight. beginning at the Pacific port of by passenger trains in June 1992. This In addition, the track between Druzhba . established a direct link between Almaty, and Aktogay was abandoned for 30 years The land bridge took many years to then the capital of Kazakhstan and and is in such bad condition that faster complete, partly because of the complex Ürümqi in China. Ironically, with the running speeds are risky. In 1995, the and changing political landscape in China collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, by government of Japan provided yen loans and the former USSR. China’s railway the time operations officially began in for repairs and other improvements and network only extended as far west as September 1992, the line linked China work is now completed. Lanzhou, and there was no rail line with the newly independent Kazakhstan. between Druzhba and Aktogay in the Since then, trains have been providing a Soviet Union. However, in 1954, when direct link between Lanzhou in China and The East–West Line Today relations between the two countries were , the capital of Uzbekistan, via extremely cordial, they announced plans Almaty. However, by late 2000, the direct The east–west line from China crossing to construct a new railway linking the two link has been shortened, only joining into Kazakhstan soon links up with the end lines. Agreement was reached on Ürümqi to Almaty, with two return runs most easterly of four north–south lines at construction of the Ürümqi–Aktogay each week, one operated by China, and Aktogay, which leads southwest to Almaty, section in 1956, and the Druzhba– the other by Kazakhstan. The train the former capital of Kazakhstan, and then Aktogay section was completed in 1959. carriages bear the name Zihbek Zholy west. Almaty is at the southern edge of a But deteriorating relations in the early (meaning Silk Road) in bold letters, an large plain that suffers many serious 1960s caused China to halt construction appropriate name because this prestigious earthquakes, explaining why the capital of the Ürümqi–Alashankou section international train with private double was relocated north to Astana (formerly although the Lanxin Line between sleeping carriages and restaurant car Akmora and Tselinograd even further Lanzhou and Ürümqi had opened in follows the route of the ancient Silk Road. back). Astana, which means ‘The Capital’ 1962. With construction in China halted, Although China’s rail land bridge is in the Kazak language, is an air, rail and no trains ran on the newly completed complete, no single passenger train road hub with 2-hour connections to

Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 43 Central Asian Railways and Europe–Asia Land Bridge

the Strait to complete the land bridge all the way from the east coast of China through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey to Europe. However, the desert border between China and Kazakhstan (formerly the China–USSR border) still has watchtowers along a long metal fence, and there are also buildings that appear to be watchtowers on the border mountains between the former Soviet Union and Iran. These structures remind us of the tensions Almaty Station, Kazakhstan (Author) existing between countries in this region. major centres around the country. to Bandar-e Abbas on the , Border tensions are also heightened by Although Almaty is no longer the capital, giving maritime access to the landlocked civil and other wars west of Iran. it is still the country’s largest city, and countries of Central Asia. But only local remains the centre of commerce, culture passenger services are offered at present Background to Central Asian and education. and there is no direct service from the Railway Network About 1000 km west of Almaty, the Turkmenistan–Iran border to the sea. continuance of the east–west line crosses The line running west from passes The five central Asian countries of into Uzbekistan and enters Tashkent, the through Tabriz, then crosses the Iran– Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, capital. Tashkent is Central Asia’s largest Turkey border at Kapicoi, about 870 km Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan were part of the city and has a population of more than 2 west of Tehran and continues another 100 15 republics making up the former Soviet million. It is the only city in Central Asia km to the eastern bank of Lake Van. There Union. During the Stalinist period, the with a subway and flourished centuries is no line around the lake and regional various stages of industrial production— ago as a Silk Road oasis and hub. conflict has made it difficult to conduct a manufacturing, processing and From Tashkent, the line continues line survey. A ferry used to connect Van, consumption—were divided among the westwards for about 350 km to on the eastern side with the rail terminus republics to prevent them from separating , an important city on the of Tatvan on the western side, but reports from the USSR and becoming ancient Silk Road and called the City of indicate that it has been suspended. independent. For example, crude oil Turquoise Blue today. The many ancient From Tatvan, the line continues via produced in one republic would be ruins at Samarkand make it a major tourist Ankara, the capital of Turkey, to Hay dar refined in another and then consumed in destination along with Bukhara, Khiva and pasa Station in eastern Istanbul on the a third. This division enabled to Urgench. eastern side of the Bosporus Strait. There control regional economies and prevent Another 1000 km west, the line reaches is no rail link across the Bosporus to Sirkei, the breakup of the USSR into independent Asgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. But the departure point for trains to Europe. nations. before reaching Asgabat, a southerly line There is talk of a rail tunnel under the Once the Communist Party in the Soviet branches off at Tedzhen heading for the Bosporus but concrete action is still many Union collapsed, the republics quickly town of Sarakhs at the border with Iran. years away. declared their independence, rallied The change of gauge at this border One other line extends northwest for around their own national identities, crossing requires a time-consuming about 550 km from Ashkhabad, the capital issued their own currency, and threw off change of bogies before trains can of Turkmenistan, to the port Moscow’s yoke. The previous division of continue on into Iran. of Turkmenbashi, formerly called the various stages of industrial production, A 300-km line was constructed with much Krasnovodsk. This is the end of east–west created enormous difficulties and states difficulty from Serakhs to Mashhad, the trunk line. A ferry connects Turkmenbashi without the size and advantages of terminus for the Iranian Islamic Republic to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on the countries like Russia and began Railways line from Tehran. It opened in west side of the sea. to experience serious economic 1996. As the above description shows, tracks difficulties. Central Asia is rich in The line south from Tehran goes via Sirjan must be laid only at Lake Van and under agricultural and mineral resources, so

44 Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. under the old regime, this region was be sent to another. This was not a major Moscow was divided among the newly treated as a provider of raw materials, problem when the Soviet Ministry of independent countries. Much of it was most of which were transported northwest Transport issued orders from Moscow, worn out and yen loans are being to Ukraine and north to Russia for because planning was carried out on a provided to replace old rolling stock and processing. The final commodities were pan-USSR scale and work was paid for in construct new equipment. then sent to markets in Moscow, Europe rubles. In the countries of the former Soviet and elsewhere. But problems became apparent Union, locomotives are generally Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, immediately after independence and loss powered by AC electricity. However, DC Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are all of central control. Rolling stock sent for locomotives run on DC electrified track landlocked, and Uzbekistan has the repair to another country was accepted in some areas, particularly Moscow and unique distinction of having only only grudgingly and repairs were its surroundings. Lines that have not been landlocked neighbours too. (There are postponed. Unsatisfactory work became electrified – including most lines in only two doubly landlocked countries and a problem and bills had to be paid in the Central Asia – use diesel locomotives, of the other one is Liechtenstein, surrounded new currency of the country making the course. by Switzerland and Austria.) Rail and road repair. If the country paying the bill did Alternating voltage is 25,000 V, frequency are the only surface transport options in not have that currency, it had to pay in 50 Hz. Most electric passenger these countries. Road transport offers little hard-earned US dollars. locomotives have an operating power of hope because the roads are in poor Rolling stock cannot be used after its 8400 kW. AC locomotives in Japan have condition and there are few trucks. inspection deadline has passed and trains a maximum operating power of 3600 kW. Therefore, the railways of the region have stop running when inspections are not This difference highlights the continental played a major role in transportation, carried out. Therefore, Kazakhstan, nature of transportation in these countries; carrying almost 90% of all surface freight. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, the power is more than one would assume Since most raw materials from this region and Tajikistan need to build their own necessary, even though the wider gauge moved north during the Soviet era, modern rolling stock maintenance yards. track requires larger locomotives, and the railways were constructed with a general To promote these goals, the government longer trains travel longer distances. The north–south orientation. Likewise, of Japan is providing yen loans to maximum operating power for Central passengers travelled to and from Moscow Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Asian freight locomotives – 10,000 kW – in the north, and there was little demand Turkmenistan. is even greater. for east–west passenger traffic. At independence, the rolling stock control Diesel locomotive horsepower ranges This political and economic history controlled by the Ministry of Transport in from 3000 to 4000 hp, with some test explains why the region’s railway network has only one east–west line and four north–south lines. Although adequate in the days of the Soviet Union, the new independence of the five countries has seen a change to east–west passenger and freight patterns as links to China in the east and Iran in the southwest offer markets in the Pacific and Persian Gulf. The impact of the old Soviet division of industry between the various republics can also be seen in the maintenance of rolling stock. Inspection and repair of diesel and electric locomotives, electric cars, passenger carriages and freight wagons was entrusted to workshops in different republics. If a certain type of rolling stock could not be inspected or repaired in the local republic, it would Soviet-built Class VL80 in Uzbekistan (Author)

Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 45 Central Asian Railways and Europe–Asia Land Bridge

models in the 6000 hp range. Siberian. The next line to the west is about for Moscow or connections with the Many freight cars are huge, with 8 axles. 1800-km long and much has been Trans-Siberian Railroad take the east– These cars have a capacity in the range electrified. It connects with the Trans- west line to main junctions, and then turn of 125 tonnes per car. (In Japan it is a Siberian at Omsk and Yekaterinburg, via north onto the north–south lines. mere 30 to 40 tonnes per car.) Higher Petropavlovsk. From Petropavlovsk the Services on the east–west line include capacity is needed to raise freight volume line runs south through Astana, the new four return runs between Almaty and and reduce train length. capital of Kazakhstan, and then connects Tashkent, and two trains between All rolling stock in former Soviet Union with the east–west line at Chu. Almaty Tashkent and Samarkand. However, countries is large, and many cars are of lies to the east of Chu on east–west line. there is no direct service between Almaty the same type, making modernization The third and fourth (most westerly) lines and Asgabat. difficult. Some locomotives from the begin in Moscow and its suburban and Interestingly, even after independence, the 1950s are still in use. run southeast. One line passes east of the connections between Russia and the five Train travel can take days, so all Aral Sea, while the other passes its west. nations of Central Asia are still better than passenger cars have sleeping They connect with the east–west line at the connections between the nations, accommodations. The most common Arys’ and Chardzhou, respectively. reflecting the pattern of demand. type of sleeping car has four-passenger compartments, with lower and upper Major Services on Central Different Time Zones and berths aligned at right angles to the Asian Network Track Gauges direction of travel. Some cars have compartments for two people, others During the Soviet era, express trains Any discussion of railways in Eurasia must have open accommodations for groups linked Moscow with the capitals of the mention time zones and track gauges. of eight. various republics. And even today the Each car has one conductor, a woman in Kazakhstan express train runs between Time differences many cases. Conductors provide Moscow and Almaty, the Uzbekistan As we all know, there is a 1-hour information, check tickets, serve Express between Moscow and Tashkent, difference in time by the sun between two refreshments, and keep fuel burning in and the Kirgizia express train between locations separated by 15 degrees of heating stoves during cold parts of the Moscow and Bishkek, the capital of longitude. Dealing with time differences year. Each car has its own heating system Kyrgystan. The network used by these is a headache for transportation managers. – a locomotive-powered centralized three express trains is sometimes called In the case of air travel, departure and system is not used because a breakdown the Eurasian Railway. arrival times are indicated in local times could result in people freezing to death An express that runs between Moscow so air passengers simply adjust their in mid-winter. and Asgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, watches to the local time at their In some extremely rare cases, coaches are on the most westerly of the north–south destination. also used on long-haul routes. Since lines, passes close to the west coast of the On the other hand, for long-distance trains independence, Central Asian countries Aral Sea, but is not listed in the Thomas travelling east–west, the time on board the have introduced new coaches for short- Cook timetable for some reason. train changes each time the train crosses haul travel. There is little current information about a time zone, but station times do not train operations in Tajikistan, which is still necessarily reflect local times. The Four North–South Lines in the throes of civil war. Several years For land transport, there are three ways Today ago, there was an express service between to deal with time differences as follows: Moscow and Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s • One standard time over entire territory As explained above, the four main lines capital, but it seems to have been China covers a vast east–west expanse of Central Asia have a general north–south suspended. but uses only Beijing Time for the orientation. Two connect with the Trans- In addition to these direct services to whole country. From a transport Siberian Railroad in the north, and the Moscow, about seven trains also run on scheduling point of view, this system other two converge on Moscow. The the north–south main lines. Eight express is the easiest because travel time is the easternmost of these lines is about 1700- or rapid trains connect the Kazakhstan same as the difference in time between km long and runs from Almaty north past capital of Astana with the former capital departure and arrival. However, as a Aktogay to Novorsibirsk on the Trans- of Almaty. Express and rapid trains bound result, the time by the sun does not

46 Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. correspond with the time by the clock five countries of Central Asia. According to the schedule, the train in many parts of the country. If China However, only the railway uses takes 8 days to travel the full length used time zones, there would be three Standard Railway Time for railway of the Trans-Siberian line. However, or four, but under the current system, timetables and local time is followed the listed departure time of 17:00 is when it is dawn at 05:00 in Beijing, it for ordinary life. Standard Railway Standard Railway Time and the local is still dark in the Uygur Autonomous Time and local time are only the same time is actually midnight Region to the northwest where it dawn in Moscow’s time zone. the next day. The train is scheduled arrives at 08:00 or 09:00. The former Soviet Union stretched to arrive in Moscow at 06:15, which • Local time east–west almost half way around the is listed on the Vladivostok schedule In the USA, Canada and elsewhere, northern hemisphere. Kaliningrad is as 13:15 the same day, meaning that train schedules use local time. Train the most westerly location at 20°E the journey takes only 7 days for and car travellers put their watches 1 while Cape Dezhneva is the most someone boarding at Vladivostok. hour forward or back each time they easterly at 170°W. Such a vast The station building cross into another time zone. As a longitudinal spread should call for 12 clock is famous for its three hands of result, travel time is not the same as time zones, but there are only 11 one long black hand and two short the difference in time between because all European parts of the hands—one black and one red. The departure and arrival. In the extreme former Soviet Union are in the same short and long black hands indicate case of two adjacent stations separated time zone. Consequently, when it is Khabarovsk local time while the short by a time zone border, if the actual 07:00 in Moscow, it is 18:00 at Cape red and long black hand indicate travel time is 5 minutes, the timetable Dezhneva. Standard Railway Time (Moscow appears to indicate a travel time of 65 There is a difference of 7 hours along local time). minutes in one direction and 55 the tracks from Moscow to the eastern Using Standard Railway Time, the minutes in the other. ports on the . Thus local difference between arrival and Using local time for schedules does time on the Pacific differs from departure times equals the travel time not present a problem as far as the Standard Railway Time by 7 hours. but for someone not used to this system, relative position of the sun is The departure time for the express the difference between Standard concerned. passenger train Russia leaving Railway Time and local times along the • Standard Railway Time Vladivostok for Moscow is shown as line can be most confusing. This method was used in the former 17:00 both on the station display and In Central Asia, there is a 3-hour time Soviet Union and is still used in the in the Thomas Cook timetable. difference between Moscow and

Figure 1 Trans-Eurasia Networks

Yekaterinburg Baykal- Railway

Moscow Omsk Tayshet

Petropavlosk T ra Baykal Lake n s -S i b e r i an R ailroad Aktogay Druzhba Aral’ Sea Alashankou Chu Beijiang Arys’ Urumqi Vladivostok Almaty Line Caspian Sea Urgench Tashkent Bishkek Lanxin Line Beijing Baku Bukhara

To Istanbul via Ankara Istanbul To Van Lake Ashkhabad Dushanbe Tatvan Chardzhou Tabriz Samarkand Lanzhou Tokyo Tehran Xi’an Liangungang Longhai Line

Shanghai

Persian Gulf

Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 47 Central Asian Railways and Europe–Asia Land Bridge

The Trans-Siberian Railroad

A glance at any large-scale map of the Eurasian will that there are only two railway lines linking Europe and Asia—the Silk Railway through Central Asia, and the Trans-Siberian Railroad in the north. Figure 1 shows a complex network with major spurs and branch lines, but the Trans-Siberian is prominent west of Tayshet while the Silk Railway runs alone after it crosses from China into Kazakhstan. Eastwards along the Trans- Siberian, there is no railway north of the line until Tayshet, and then the Baykal– Amur Line branches off east and north. A bogie-changing track a Druzhba Station (Author) South of the Silk Railway, there are Almaty, and a 2-hour difference Japan, have been developed to permit railways in various countries, but there are between Moscow and Tashkent. Thus, through operations on different gauges but many gaps, such as at the borders between the timetable has the Silk Road express they are not in widespread commercial and , between Myanmar train departing Almaty at 18:45 use yet.) and , and between Cambodia although the local time is 21:45. Countries of the former Soviet Union use and Viet Nam. These southern routes offer the broad gauge of 1520 mm while most no possibility of connections between For many years, Thomas Cook’s World neighbouring countries use the standard Asia and Europe. Timetables have contained the following gauge of 1435 mm. As a result, trains Neither the Trans-Siberian Railroad nor notice for rail services in Central Asian crossing from China and Iran into the Silk Railway offer direct connections countries: Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan must from the Pacific to western Europe, but “At present the trains still operate to change bogies, or the passengers and the Trans-Siberian does make it possible Moskva time, but a change to local time goods must transfer to a new wagon. to travel the entire distance by changing may occur in the future.” At Druzhba on the border between China trains and lines in Moscow, Ukraine, But such a changeover would involve and Kazakhstan, passenger trains change and elsewhere. At 9297 km, the much time and preparation. We can bogies while most freight is transshipped. Trans-Siberian Railroad is still the longest therefore assume that this notice will This is impractical for freight such as in the world. continue to appear in the timetables for liquids, frozen goods and hazardous There is no space here to dwell on the some time, even though the countries are materials, so the wagon bogies are Trans-Siberian Railway’ importance to the keen to demonstrate their independence changed in these cases. Both economy of the USSR Far East, except to by using local time. transshipment and bogie changes require say that it has played essential roles both a lot of heavy lifting equipment and the in war and peace. Gauge differences Silk Road express stops for about 5 hours Although the postwar period saw a rise in Another troublesome problem sometimes to complete the change of gauge. air travel, even today the Russia express encountered is the difference in track The same change-of-gauge problem train departs Vladivostok and Moscow gauges. occurs at many other borders throughout every 2 days for the 7-day journey. Other Generally, when the is the world. For example, in Europe, trains trains from Beijing and Ulaanbaatar use different, a train cannot run continuously from Russia must change their bogies or the Trans-Siberian tracks too. One train from one rail section of one gauge to a transship freight at the border with . from Pyongyang is coupled to the Russian rail section of another gauge. (New Express at for a 9-day journey automatic change-of-gauge technologies, between the two capitals, surely the such as Talgo in Spain and ‘free gauge’ in longest regularly scheduled train service

48 Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. in the world. The long travel times and difficult transfers on the Trans-Siberian Railroad put it at a disadvantage to air travel and this is even truer for travel on the Silk Railway where the many Customs and immigration procedures are an added burden. This explains why hardly any passengers travel its entire length. What about freight? Freight on the Trans- Siberian does not cross any border until it reaches a European country beyond Russia so Customs procedures are relatively simple. However, Russia’s Far Eastern ports, especially Vladivostok, and Bostochyni, suffer from very dilapidated infrastructure at rail yards adjacent to port facilities, causing huge The track extending to the east of Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan, across desert toward the Capian Sea (Author) freight backlogs. Other serious problems along the Trans-Siberian include theft, shorter route must undergo burdensome Iranian port, then taken by train through damaged freight, late trains, exorbitant formalities at three or four border crossings the interior of Iran to Central Asian fees, and uncertain scheduling for return (depending on the line taken), while the countries. However, conditions at the of containers. longer route involves only one. Turkmenistan/Iran border city of Serakhs Although marine container transport takes There would be advantages to using the will not be favuorable to this scenario for longer, it is safer, cheaper and more existing shorter Silk Railway route and some time. I reliable, explaining why more and more avoiding the Trans-Siberian’s uncertain freight from the Far East to Europe is sent scheduling and high crime rate. But the by sea and why Trans-Siberian freight Silk Railway will not be a viable option volumes are now only about 25% of their unless fees are reduced and customs and maximum. Talks have been held to inspection formalities are simplified at explore the possibility of Japan’s providing international borders, and unless the time assistance to improve train operations on for transshipping and bogie changes is the line. shortened. Freight carried on the Silk Railway from The rail connection from Turkmenistan China is generally bound for Central Asia. across the Iranian border to the Persian From there, freight can be sent by rail via Gulf also offers potential. In the future, Russia to western Europe. This is relevant this link could be advantageous not only when considering Europe-bound freight to the landlocked countries of Central Asia from Japan. The route from Japan to but also to countries like Japan. Freight via Central Asia is about 1000 could be sent from Japan by ship to the km shorter than the route via Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway. But the Shigeru Otsuka longer Trans-Siberian route involves only one time-consuming transshipment or 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 bogie change to cope with different track projects for developing countries until he left JNR in 1984. He continued to work in international gauges (for example, at the border with projects as Executive Director of Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. until he retired in 2000. Poland or Slovakia), while the shorter Central Asian route involves two. Furthermore, freight transported over the

Copyright © 2001 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 28 • September 2001 49