Pan-Asia Railway - connecting Kunming to Singapore by high speed rail

Wang Mengshu, of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, in an extensive interview with the Beijing Times, laid out the general strategy of China utilizing its growing expertise in high-speed rail construction to create a World Land-Bridge. It seems that China has forcefully taken up the policy which had been announced over 100 years ago in the U.S. as "girding the globe with tramway of iron" as expressed by Gen. Joshua Owens after the successful completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The dramatic nature of the cultural shifts in the two countries, the U.S. and China, is underlined by the increasing collapse of U.S. infrastructure and the desire of China to become the chief producer of transportation infrastructure for the world. The recent visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Africa is just the latest example of that policy.

Professor Wang noted four primary directions for the Chinese high-speed rail construction: (1) a Eurasian line with two branches, one going through Kazakhstan and another entering China at the Chinese border from Russia at Manzhouli and proceeding east to Khabarovsk; (2) a Central Asian Line, starting from Urumqi and proceeding through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Turkey, and then on to Germany; (3) a Pan-Asian high-speed rail starting from Kunming and proceeding through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia, and arriving at Singapore; and (4) A line going through northeast China and then through Siberia to Chukotka, where it will meet with the planned Bering Strait tunnel to Alaska. There are also discussions with Russia regarding the gauge for a high-speed rail traversing Russian territory. The Chinese wish to build it using the international 1435 mm gauge rather than the wider 1524 mm gauge used by the Russian railroads.

With regard to the first two lines, Wang said, the domestic side is progressing well and the foreign sections are still under consideration. On the Pan-Asian line, construction has begun on a China-Myanmar railway tunnel. The Siberian line is still a matter of negotiations, but Wang indicated clearly that China would be prepared to help finance and build a tunnel under the Bering Strait. Professor Wang indicates the benefit accruing to China in this "going out" policy. First, they can exchange their infrastructure investment for the needed energy resources possessed by many of these countries in lieu of cash payments. In the case of Myanmar, it will be the supply of potash. Second, it provides an outlet for Chinese engineers to play the key role in the surveying, planning, design, and construction of the roads, and allows them to train the personnel in the transit regions. Already now there is a regular train from Zhengzhou which carries exploration equipment and technical personnel destined for Central Europe and other regions of the high-speed rail line. Participating in the Bering Strait project would also give Chinese engineers the experience they would need to build a similar tunnel between Fujian and Taiwan, Wang explains.

Pan-Asia Railway

Pan-Asia Railway project, a much-anticipated mega project, has been designed and planned for over 50 years before its formal start on November 10 of 2006. According to the program, altogether 3 railways, connecting China and Southeast Asian nations, will be opened before 2020. All these 3 railways are designed to start from Kunming, Yunnan.

The whole project consists of three lines, namely the eastern line, the middle line and the western line. Among them, the eastern one is being built in the fastest speed.

Middle Line: Till now, Yuxi-Mohan section have not been started construction yet

Route: Kunming-Yuxi-Mohan
Yuxi-Mohan Railway, a section within the middle line of Pan-Asia Railway, is still not started its construction.

According to Railway Bureau, the Yuxi-Mohan Railway will reach a length of 503.8 kilometers, with a total investment of 44.65 billion yuan. In the section, train speed is designed to reach 200 kilometers per hour from Yuxi to Jinghong, Xishuangbanna, and 160 kilometers per hour from Jinghong to Mohan. After its construction, travel time from Pu’er to Kunming will be cut to below 3 hours.

Due to difficulties in building railways in Yunnan, construction of the section might spend at least 5 years before being put into operation.

Western Line: Baoshan-Ruili Railway may be started construction in the year

Route: Kunming-Dali-Baoshan-Ruili

The western line has 3 sections, Kunming-Dali part, Dali-Baoshan part and Baoshan Ruili part. Among them, Kunming-Dali part is estimated to be completed in May of 2017. Meanwhile, Dali-Baoshan part has been started construction in 2008, and Baoshan-Ruili part will be started construction within the year.

Kunming-Dali part is put into remolding on the basis of the previous railway. Kunming-Guangtong section of that part has been completed remolding in the second half of last year. The left section, Guangtong-Dali section, has been started remolding since December 30 of 2012, and is anticipated to be finished in May of 2017. The part is 174.45 kilometers long, with an investment of 13.936 billion yuan. 

Trains are designed to operate at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour in this part.

Dali-Baoshan part is 133.641 kilometers long, and had been put into construction since 2008. The construction is estimated to last for about 66 months. The part is also called “a metro-like railway”, for it altogether contains 21 tunnels.

Baoshan-Ruili part covers a length of 197 kilometers, and is planned to be invested with 17.578 billion yuan. The part may be started construction within the year.

Eastern Line: Mengzi-Hekou section will be opened within the year
Route: Kunming-Yuxi-Mengzi-Hekou

Kunming and Yuxi has been connected by an old railway already. Its remolding was started on November 28 of 2010, and will be completed within next year. After remolding, railway level of this part will be greatly improved. Trains on that part are estimated to run at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour.
Yuxi-Mengzi part has been opened from February 23, 2013, yet the Mengzi-Hekou part is still under construction now.

Mengzi-Hekou Railway boasts a length of 141.44 kilometers, and is to be constructed with an investment of 6.93 billion yuan. Train speed is designed to reach 120 kilometers per hour. A total of 12 stops, 32 tunnels and 36 bridges are set to be built along the railway.

Mengzi-Hekou Railway has been constructed since July of 2013, and is anticipated to be opened in the year. Its operation also marks the completion of the eastern line of the Pan-Asia Railway project in China.

Key project for 14,000-km network to connect Kunming with Myanmar

A major construction project for the ambitious Trans-Asian Railway Network from Kunming to Singapore is set to commence in China in June 2014, according to latest news from senior railway expert official Wang Mengshu.

"The Gaoligong Mountain Rail Tunnel will be more than 30 kilometers long and will help link Yunnan province to Myanmar," said Wang Mengshu, a tunnel and railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, on Thursday.

The National Development and Reform Commission approved the project, and engineers and worker representatives have come up with techniques to overcome geological complexities that could pose challenges, Wang said.

The tunnel will be the longest of its kind in Asia, with engineering difficulties equivalent to those found in the construction of rail lines on the permafrost in Tibet, he said.

"Another important project, the Nujiang River Rail Bridge, will also be launched soon," Wang added, noting that both the bridge and the tunnel are elements of the Dali-Ruili Railway, which will extend 330 kilometers to link China with its neighbor Myanmar.

Some sections of the railway suitable for high-speed operation will allow trains to run at 250 kilometers per hour. Other sections will hold speeds to a maximum of 180 kph, Wang said.

Wang has been one of the key planners for China's high-speed railway network.

Three rail lines that link China to Southeast Asian nations are included in the central government's medium- and long-term railway network plan, and some preliminary work has begun, according to sources close to China Railway Corp (formerly the Ministry of Railways).

Under the plan, the lines will start in Kunming, Yunnan province, and connect Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. They constitute the southern part of the Trans-Asian Railway, which was initiated in the 1960s and began to take shape after 18 countries endorsed an agreement in November 2006.

The huge rail network aims to provide a continuous 14,000-km rail link between Singapore and Istanbul, with possible onward connections to Europe and Africa, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

While the blueprint for the three lines has been in the works for some time, survey and construction work has dragged on because of funding difficulties and disputes over speed-related issues.

"Now we have finished the survey work, and as far as I know, the government is negotiating with foreign nations over the funding methods," Wang said.

"They have reached a preliminary conclusion that China will be responsible for investing in infrastructure,
equipment and technical research, while other countries will repay their share with local resources."

A railway expert at Beijing Jiaotong University who didn't want to be named said China should make sure it has enough money for such a massive project.

"China's railway sector is still being haunted by deep debts," the expert said. "Therefore, even with the government's support, it must persuade banks to lend a colossal amount of money.

Pan Asia Railway