Kazakhstan to start building rail link between Southeast Asia and Europe
Published:
30 December 2004 y., Thursday
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.
Šaltinis:
story.news.yahoo.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The World Bank is seeing a surge in demand from borrowers seeking the Bank’s expertise to mitigate currency and interest rate risk.
more »
The European Commission has approved under EU state aid rules a Lithuanian package intended to stabilise the markets as a response to the global financial crisis.
more »
Total cereal production in 2010 should be close to the average from the last five years. While the yield per hectare will be 5% above average, overall cultivated areas have decreased.
more »
According to the unaudited data, AB Bank SNORAS profit prior to provisions and tax exemption within the first half of this year comprised LTL 51 million, the bank formed almost LTL 48 million provisions.
more »
The European Commission today approved two applications from Denmark for assistance from the EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).
more »
The European Investment Bank today signed two loans for a total amount of EUR 150 million in support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey.
more »
On 23 July 2010 the Board of the Bank of Lithuania permitted Bank SNORAS to register a change to the articles of association related to the increase of the authorized capital of the bank by LTL 82.3 million up to LTL 494,217,107.
more »
Heads of State and top officials from the Central American Integration System and World Bank Group President, Robert B. Zoellick, agreed to join efforts towards regional cooperation and integration and adopted a comprehensive agenda that includes an action plan with more than 20 specific measures.
more »
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved the full cancellation of Haiti’s outstanding liabilities to the Fund, of about SDR 178 million (equivalent to US$268 million).
more »
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the third review of Latvia's performance under an economic program supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).
more »