The Real Orient Express

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Ticket to Beijing, anyone?

 

"In theory it will be possible to travel between London and Beijing by train, though there are no plans for a direct service."

 

A tunnel crossing the Bosporus is truly an accomplishment. 

[astronelson 339]

It already is possible to travel from London to Beijing by train, via Moscow. You can travel as far as Singapore Ho Chi Minh City using already existing lines (Singapore requires a bus).

[Odainsaker 2,133]

I recall Istanbul having huge rail terminuses that doubled as ferry ports at either side of the Bosporus.  I seem to also recall that one of the historic rail/ferry/hotel terminals had caught fire some years ago, severely destroying its landmark picturesque upper floors.

 

The next step in the pan-Eurasian network to reach Seoul, which would require a change in the stance of North Korea, which cuts off rail connections from China and Russia reaching to South Korea.  Another step is to tunnel under the Tsushima Strait to then connect South Korea to Japan, such that the alpha megacities of Seoul and Tokyo could be reached by high speed rail via Busan and Fukuoka.  Such an ambitious project would have to overcome not only the great distances and costs, but, also the insular and mutually xenophobic distrust of the two nations.  Of course, looming in the background is China, which does not want to see closer ties between it's economic and geopolitical rivals in East Asia, but, would like to further open up industrial Northeast China, which is also being hemmed in from its natural markets in the region by North Korea and has not developed at the same rates as coastal China.

 

Russia, however, is not waiting for North Korea, South Korea, China, and Japan to all embrace in future friendship, and has instead begun projects to bypass Korea altogether by tunneling or bridging Russia's Far East to Sakhalin, and then further connecting Sakhalin to Hokkaido, efforts far less technically and financially ambitious than the significantly longer route between Korea and Japan.  This would provide direct ground transportation and rail linkages of Siberian and Russian Far East resources to one of the world's top consumer economies, while also attracting investment back into Russia's most remote and struggling regions.  It would also make a shorter, more direct trip across the Trans-Siberian backbone of Russia to connect the major markets of Europe to East Asia, providing a potential alternative to the increasing instability and congestion of the southern routes.

 

Of course, the biggest loser seems to be North Korea, which sits at the crossroads and could be economically tapping into all the potential activity from the linkages that naturally want to crisscross its territory, but, instead chooses to be a black hole around which it's neighbors are looking to bypass.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Having the northern route with the Trans-Siberian Railway is rather a chilly way to go.  The new southern possibility is likely to be more popular if it comes into fruition.

 

With global warming, what are the chances that the Siberian route will sink into the muskeg?

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Forget all this, I'm just waiting for a decent rail to cross my own country!

Although this would be a big step for Turkey and Istanbul, I don't see this having a perceived international benefit. Those needing to get from one side to the other would already be adequately served by ferries.