Cargo-and-Passenger High-Speed Railway “TransEurasia”: A Unique Megaproject

Abstract

The increasing trade between the countries of East Asia, the European Union and other countries of the Eurasian continent predetermines a significant revival of transport links in the direction of East-West and vice versa. In order to solve the intercontinental transportation and logistics issues, Russian scientists have developed the concept of the Trans-Eurasian belt «Development» (Razvitie). In 2014, the leadership of the People’s Republic of China initiated “One Belt — One Road†. It includes the construction of a railway infrastructure linking China and the countries of Western Europe through the countries of Central Asia [13] under the project “Silk Road Economic Belt†. At present, the group of scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Joint Academic Council of the Russian Railways has proposed the Concept of the Integrated High-Speed Intelligent Railway TransEurasia. It will serve for the transport of passengers and high-tech electronic products for e-commerce from the ports of the Russian Far East and railway border crossings China — Russia. The railway will allow to transport goods three times faster in comparison with classical railway technologies and 15 times faster in comparison with the ocean transportation in the framework of “One Belt — One Road†. The experience of the design of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway (HSR) and the technical development of the HSR network in China and Western Europe, as well as the promising information technologies of the “Industry 4.0†generation, allow applying intelligent control systems in the Megaproject “Trans-Eurasia†. Therefore, it will guarantee the highest level of safety, reliability, comfort for passengers and competitive cost of transportation. To develop financial conditions for the implementation of the Megaproject, we propose to create an international consortium.