Friday, August 2, 2002
ASIA FILE
A railway across Asia
Almost a century after Count Kakuzo Okakura's famous "Asia is one" proclamation, Asia is finally poised to become one in reality, says Barun Roy
Almost a century after Count Kakuzo Okakura's famous "Asia is one" proclamation, Asia is finally poised to become one in reality. Out of the massive highway and railway projects that are now on the ground or in blueprints in various countries, a gigantic network of trans-regional land links is slowly beginning to form to bring the countries of Asia closer together like never before, and, eventually, to link Asia with Europe. The way things stand, it's quite possible that, within five years, one can get into a car in Singapore and drive through the length of Asia all the way to Vladivostok. Within 10 years, one would be able to take a train to London.
Fa-Hien would have been jealous. Hercule Poirot would have bristled with joy. For, the days of great land journeys - of great railway journeys in particular - are about to dawn on Asia.
And, when they do, the experience could be as romantic as the old Silk Road, a 15,000 km dirt-and-rubble trade route between Xian and the Roman empire travelled by camel, donkey, cart, and on foot, which now survives only as legend; as glamourous as the Orient Express, which captivated fiction writers through the ages and stopped running in 1977; and as mythical as the Trans-Siberian, which, mercifully, is still in existence.
At the heart of this new trans-Asian adventure is a proposed 5,600 km railway that will link Singapore with Kunming, in China's Yunnan province, threading its way through Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
The project report is ready, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has set up a working committee to supervise its implementation, and, actively supported by China and Japan, the $3 billion venture is all set for kick-off in 2003.
At present, a single line connects Malaysia with Thailand and Singapore. A similar, but fragile link exists between southern China and Vietnam. There are no rail links at all among Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
Myanmar's railroads stop several hundred kilometres short of its borders with Bangladesh, India, and Thailand. Thus, in terms of railways, southeast Asia remains an isolated group of countries, making continuous transit impossible from one point of the region to another.
The trans-Asian project will fill the gaps between the various national railways, tie up loose ends, match gauges and standards, and upgrade the rolling stock to support faster modern trains.
Work in the coming years will concentrate on building a 48 km link between Thailand and Cambodia, a 263 km link between Thailand and Myanmar, and a 585 km link between Laos and Vietnam. When these are complete and China modernises its own link with Vietnam, trains to Kunming will become a reality.
At Kunming, the line will join the vast Chinese network, going northwards to connect with the Trans-Siberian Railroad at Vladivostok on one hand and westwards to link up with a vast new Central Asian network on the other. The ground will thus be prepared for not just one, but many, trans-Asian links into the heartland of Europe.
In May 1999, China completed a new, 1,451 km railroad through its western Xinjiang province, stretching along the northern edge of the Taklimakan desert from Tulofan (Turpan) to the legendary Silk Road outpost of Kashi (Kashgar), China's westernmost city, which is also the end point of the famous Karakoram Highway. At Kashi, the line will join the Central Asian network via a still-to-be-constructed railway through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan to the Fergana Valley.
The Koreans and the Russians have been talking among themselves, too, to create what they call an "Iron Silk Road" to Europe, connecting Seoul with Berlin and beyond. South Korea's détente with North Korea has prepared the ground for such a connection.
If the proposed 180 km undersea tunnel between South Korea and Japan ever gets to be built - the estimated cost is a hefty $70 billion and a feasibility study has just got under way - the Japanese will have the use of a safer and much shorter route to Europe.
Several other transport corridors are under the scanner as possible land bridges between Asia and Europe for trade, commerce, and tourism. One of them envisages a connection between Eastern Europe and Central Asia via the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.
Another contemplates a link reaching into China via Iran, Pakistan, India, and southeast Asia. A third idea is a north-south rail-ship corridor going from northern Europe to Russia, crossing the Caspian Sea to Iran, and passing through Iran's southern ports and across the Arabian Sea to India. But because of its favourable ground situation, it is the trans-Asian railway that is most likely to come off earliest. That would be an effective first step towards what clearly is the ultimate objective of Eurasian integration: the creation of a gigantic economic area with a market of about 4 billion people.
Business Standard Ltd. 5, Pratap Bhavan, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110002. INDIA Ph: +91-11-3720202, 3739840. Fax: 011 - 3720201 Copyright & Disclaimer editor at business-standard.com