ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANS-ASIAN RAILWAY TRANS-ASIAN RAILWAY IN THE SOUTHERN CORRIDOR OF ASIA-EUROPE ROUTES UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANS-ASIAN RAILWAY TRANS-ASIAN RAILWAY IN THE SOUTHERN CORRIDOR OF ASIA-EUROPE ROUTES UNITED NATIONS New York, 1999 ST/ESCAP/1980 This publication was prepared by Peter Hodgkinson, Consultant, with financial support by the Government of Germany through GTZ German Technical Cooperation. The description employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This publication has been issued without formal editing. CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1 2. NETWORK IDENTIFICATION............................................................................................3 2.1 Routes of international significance .........................................................................3 2.1.1 Route TAR-S1.............................................................................................5 2.1.2 Route TAR-S2.............................................................................................5 2.1.3 Route TAR-S3.............................................................................................7 2.2 Routes of subregional significance ..........................................................................8 2.3 Description of TAR links within participating countries ...........................................8 2.3.1 TAR (Southern Corridor) in Bangladesh ......................................................8 2.3.2 TAR (Southern Corridor) in China .............................................................11 2.3.3 TAR (Southern Corridor) in India ...............................................................13 2.3.4 TAR (Southern Corridor) in the Islamic Republic of Iran ...........................17 2.3.5 TAR (Southern Corridor) in Myanmar ........................................................21 2.3.6 TAR (Southern Corridor) in Pakistan .........................................................25 2.3.7 TAR (Southern Corridor) in Sri Lanka .......................................................29 2.3.8 TAR (Southern Corridor) in Thailand .........................................................31 2.3.9 TAR (Southern Corridor) in Turkey ............................................................33 3. ROUTE CHOICES FOR USERS OF TAR SERVICES .....................................................38 3.1 Rail route choices, Kunming - Europe and Kunming - Central Asia and Islamic Republic of Iran ............................................................38 3.2 Rail route choices, Kunming to seaports ..............................................................42 3.3 Rail route choices, Bangkok - Europe and Bangkok - Central Asia and Islamic Republic of Iran .............................................................43 3.4 General observations concerning route choice .....................................................45 4. CLOSING THE GAPS IN THE NETWORK .......................................................................46 4.1 Assumed technical standards ...............................................................................48 4.2 Assumed unit costs of missing link construction ...................................................48 4.3 Method of estimating breakeven or threshold traffic volumes ...............................49 4.4 Assessment of individual missing links .................................................................51 4.4.1 Links between Thailand and Myanmar ......................................................51 4.4.2 Links between China and Myanmar ..........................................................56 4.4.3 Links between Myanmar and India ............................................................59 4.4.4 Missing link within the Islamic Republic of Iran .........................................61 4.5 Summarized capital cost and threshold tonnage estimates ..................................63 5. TRAFFIC DEMAND ..........................................................................................................64 5.1 Existing traffic demand ..........................................................................................65 5.1.1 Bangladesh ................................................................................................65 5.1.2 India ...........................................................................................................66 5.1.3 Pakistan .....................................................................................................68 i Page 5.1.4 Islamic Republic of Iran .............................................................................70 5.1.5 Turkey ........................................................................................................71 5.2 Diverted traffic demand .........................................................................................72 5.2.1 China .........................................................................................................73 5.2.2 Thailand .....................................................................................................74 5.2.3 Myanmar ....................................................................................................75 5.2.4 Bangladesh ................................................................................................75 5.2.5 India ...........................................................................................................76 5.2.6 Pakistan .....................................................................................................76 5.2.7 Islamic Republic of Iran .............................................................................77 5.3 Generated traffic demand ......................................................................................77 5.4 Summarized forecasts of border crossing traffic ...................................................77 5.5 Traffic forecasts in relation to missing link construction ........................................77 5.6 General observations concerning traffic demand forecasts ..................................79 6. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................80 6.1 Load and structure dimensions .............................................................................80 6.1.1 Standards and requirements .....................................................................80 6.1.2 Conformity of individual railway systems with TAR structure profile standards ........................................................................................81 6.2 Axle load ................................................................................................................84 6.2.1 Standards and requirements .....................................................................84 6.2.2 Conformity of individual railway systems with TAR axle load standards ....86 6.3 Speed ....................................................................................................................88 6.3.1 Standards and requirements .....................................................................88 6.3.2 Conformity of individual railway systems with TAR speed standards ........89 7. OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................100 7.1 Compatible and efficient rolling stock design ......................................................100 7.2 Compatibility of train assembly and load scheduling practices ...........................103 7.3 Adequacy of route capacity .................................................................................104 7.3.1 Bangladesh ..............................................................................................104 7.3.2 India .........................................................................................................105 7.3.3 Islamic Republic of Iran ...........................................................................105 7.3.4 Myanmar ..................................................................................................105 7.3.5 Pakistan ...................................................................................................106 7.3.6 Sri Lanka.................................................................................................106 7.3.7 Thailand ...................................................................................................107 7.3.8 Turkey ......................................................................................................107 7.4 Overcoming break-of-gauge problems ................................................................108 7.5 Adequacy of container handling capacity in ports and hinterland .......................109 7.5.1 Bangladesh ..............................................................................................109 7.5.2 India .........................................................................................................112