Russian Railways has said they are planning to run a ‘demonstration’ train between Hasan in Russia and Rajin in North Korea in October this year.
The project aims to reconstruct an existing section of the railway, the Port of Rajin cargo terminal, and the subsequent use of this infrastructure for transit, with access to the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The project aims not only to restore this section of railway, but also to make full use of the container port of Rajin.
“Now we shall consider the question of the transportation of coal”, noted Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin.
The shortest path between the European Union and Southeast Asia (a region which produces up to 70% of the world’s GDP) is through Russia.
Traditionally, the choice has boiled down to either shipping things by sea or via the Trans-Siberian, but the increased demand for transcontinental transportation is now generating corresponding proposals, and there are about two dozen different versions of new corridors that could potentially win up to 40% of the traffic from the traditional routes.
In this regard, the implementation of international projects that could be acquired for the Far Eastern Railway are of ‘particular importance’.
In the course of the reconstruction project in 2011, Russian Railways will install 56 track switches and more than 64 km of main and secondary rail routes. To date, 36 track switches have been installed by contractors, who have repaired 14.6 km of secondary tracks and 6 km of the main line.
Additionally, work is underway on seven man-made structures. A construction site, located in Unra, will repair the tunnel. Twenty kilometres of electrical cable stations have been installed to centralise power and 34.8 km of main track has been laid.
The Hasan – Rajin project is considered by the parties involved to be part of a pilot reconstruction of the whole Trans-Korean Railway.
Currently, ongoing negotiations consultations are underway to create a dialogue between the three relevant parties (Russia, North Korea and South Korea) and create the necessary conditions for the realisation of this ambitious project.
