Further details of the proposed high-speed railway to link Moscow and Beijing through Siberia in just 33 hours have been unveiled. The project will see a new 400km per hr line running between the capital cities in a venture that would eclipse the iconic Trans-Siberian Railway.
During the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum last week, it was revealed that two potential options for the routing of the track are being considered.
Alexander Misharin, the First Vice-President of Russian Railways, said talks were taking place about going through either Kazakhstan or across the Altai region.
The new 7,700-kilometre route will cost 1.5 trillion yuan (USD240 billion) and become a link in the Eurasian land bridge also known as the New Silk Road Economic Belt.
This belt will connect China with Central Asia, Europe and the Middle East as well as India and Southeast Asia. There are also plans for the construction of a rail tunnel linking Japan and Korea to the system.
In China, 2,270 kilometres of rail track are expected to be completed this year and Russia has already made substantial progress in upgrading the Trans-Siberian railway, which would connect with the Chinese lines.
The Moscow-Beijing express would travel on existing 1520-gauge rails. While this is wider than the 1435 gauge adopted by China and Europe, they can be modified to allow the high-speed trains to run on them. Passengers having to change trains at the border with China. The high-speed railroad is expected to be completed within five years.
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