Kazakhstan to start building rail link between Southeast Asia and Europe

Kazakhstan will start building a railway link next year connecting Southeast Asia with the European Union, Transport Minister Kazhymurat Nagmanov said Wednesday. The 3,000-kilometre link is estimated to cost $3.5 billion to $4 billion US and is to be completed within 15 years. It will connect China via Kazakhstan with Turkmenistan and Turkey. The link is designed to be an alternative to the Trans-Siberia railway in Russia's Far East, which also connects Asia with Europe, as well as to ocean shipments. Kazakhstan and Russia foresee that freight transit between Europe and Asia will be very lucrative. Once built, the Kazakh link will have an advantage over the Russian alternative: the Kazakh railroad will be of international standard, while the Russian railway is 12.7 centimetres wider, designed to slow an enemy during the world wars of the 20th century. This results in delays at borders since trains need to have their wheels changed. Nagmanov said transit from Southeast Asia to Europe via Kazakhstan will take 10 days. The flow of cargo is planned to reach 35 million to 40 million tons a year by 2010, and ultimately 100 million tons.