Trans-Asian Railway Network Agreement

The Trans-Asian Railway Network Agreement is an agreement signed on November 10 2006, by seventeen Asian nations as part of a United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) effort to build a transcontinental railway network between Europe and Pacific ports in China.cite news| url=http://english.vietnamnet.vn/international/2006/11/633012/| title=Countries sign agreement on Trans-Asian railway plan| publisher=VietNamNet| date=2006-11-11| accessdate=2006-11-15| ] The plan has sometimes been called the "Iron Silk Road" in reference to the historical Silk Road trade routes. [cite press release| url=http://www.rmtbristol.org.uk/2006/10/iron_silk_road_un_treaty.html| title='Iron Silk Road' UN Treaty| publisher=UNESCAP (reprinted by National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers [RMT] Bristol Rail Branch)| date=2006-10-06| accessdate=2006-11-15| ] UNESCAP's Transport & Tourism Division began work on the initiative in 1992 when it launched the Asian Land Transport Infrastructure Development project.cite web| url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2005/11/7465/trans_asian_railway_network_nears_agreement.html | title=Trans-Asian Railway network nears agreement| publisher=Railway Gazette International| date=2005-11-01| accessdate=2006-11-15| author=Chartier, Pierre, UNESCAP| ]

The network

The Trans-Asian Railway system will consist of four main railway routes. The existing Trans-Siberian railway, which connects Moscow to Vladivostok, will be used for a portion of the network in Russia. [cite news| url=http://en.rian.ru/world/20061111/55546632.html| title=Asia-Pacific states sign regional railroad agreement| publisher=RIA Novosti| date=2006-11-11| accessdate=2006-11-15| ] Another corridor to be included will connect China to Korea, Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan. [cite news| url=http://www.interfax.cn/displayarticle.asp?aid=18616&slug=RAILROAD| title=Trans-Asian rail network agreement to be signed on Nov 10| publisher=Interfax China| date=2006-11-07| accessdate=2006-11-15| ]

Standards

Complicating the plan is the differences in rail gauges currently in use across the continent. While China, Iran and Turkey currently use RailGauge|sg standard gauge tracks, Russia's tracks are gauged at 1520 mm (5 ft), India's and Pakistan's tracks are 1676 mm (5 ft 6 in) gauge, the tracks covering an area from Bangladesh east to Vietnam and south to the tip of the Malay Peninsula are RailGauge|1 gauge with some dual gauge track near the China-Vietnam border and within Bangladesh, and tracks in Indonesia are 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge. This leads to time consuming interchanges to handle the break of gauge at main connecting points in the network.

Other standards to consider are:

* railway electrification - 25 kV AC the world standard for new long distance and heavy duty construction since the 1950s.
* Couplings - Buffers & Chains, Alliance, or SA2.
* Brakes - air, with or without Electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP).
* Loading gauge able to take tallest possible shipping container.

Participating nations

Transportation and railway ministers from forty one nations participated in the week-long conference [cite news| url=http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=6175| title=Nepal signs deal to build trans-Asian railway network| publisher=The Rising Nepal| date=2006-11-13| accessdate=2006-11-15| ] held in Busan, South Korea, where the agreement was formulated. The proposed 80,900-km railway network will originate from the Pacific seaboard of Asia and end on the doorsteps of Europe. The agreement's cosigners included:
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Cambodia
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Kazakhstan
* Laos
* Mongolia
* Nepal
* the People's Republic of China
* South Korea
* Russia
* Sri Lanka
* Tajikstan
* Thailand
* Turkey
* Uzbekistan
* Vietnam

The 24 countries that did not sign the agreement at the conference have until December 31 2007, to join and ratify the agreement. [cite web| url=http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2006/11/transasia_railw.html| title=TRANS-ASIA RAILWAY NETWORK AGREEMENT: Dhaka fails to sign deal for lack of cabinet approval| publisher=World Prout Assembly| date=2006-11-07| accessdate=2006-11-15| ]

On May 5 2007, officials in Bangladesh announced that the nation will sign on to the agreement at an upcoming meeting in New York City. The plan for the network includes three lines between India and Myanmar that traverse Bangladesh. [cite news| url=http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007259926| title=Bangladesh To Join 8,750-Mile Trans-Asian Railway Network| date=2007-05-06| accessdate=2007-05-07| ] India made a similar announcement on May 17 2007. As part of the agreement, India will build and rehabilitate rail links with neighboring Myanmar in projects that are estimated to cost more than Rs29.41 billion ($730 million). [cite news| url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/63564.html| title=India to join the Trans-Asian railway network| date=2007-05-17| accessdate=2007-05-17| ]

Bangladesh finally signed the agreement on November 10, 2007. [cite news| url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/10/content_7047917.htm| title=Bangladesh joins Trans-Asian Railway Network Agreement| date=2007-11-10| accessdate=2007-11-12| ]

References

ee also

*Trans-Asian Railway