The High-Speed Railway association is proposing building a high-speed railway from China to Europe via Ukraine. According to the proposal, the highway will connect China with seven countries – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Poland. The width of the rail tracks along the entire route of the railway should correspond to the Chinese standard (1435 mm) and the speed of trains should exceed 250 km/h.
The association’s President Viktor Myronenko presented the concept for the project at the roundtable "High-Speed Railway and Transit Potential within the Framework of the One Belt One Way Initiative,” which took place on Wednesday, August 15, the CFTS reports.
The project involves creation of an alternative New Silk Road from China to Europe. The total length of the railway corridor should be 5,100 kilometers (excluding its sea segments), which is 200 kilometers shorter than the Eurasian land bridge (China-Kazakhstan-Russia-Belarus-Poland), through which containers from China to the European Union are currently transported. "These 200 kilometers will save at least USD 4.5 billion, assuming that the average cost of a kilometer of a high-speed railway is USD 21 million," Myronenko said.
According to the presentation, the high-speed railway is intended for transporting passengers and freight. "China is already testing transportation of freight on high-speed railways. The proposed route can be used to transport containers," he said.
The association and the Ukrainian Silk Link association stressed that the presented project is only a concept and that it requires a feasibility study. For this purpose, the organization plans to send the relevant requests to foreign investors, including in China.
