KUNMING: RAILWAY HUB OF EURASIA

China is keen to establish a high speed rail link between Kunming and Kolkata as part of its efforts to revive the ancient silk route, traversing through Myanmar and Bangladesh. [source]

With the last track laid yesterday for the 2,100 km Kunming to Shanghai High Speed Railway, completed and operational in stages since late 2010, the entire length of the rail link will come into service later this year. The Kunming to Nanning (Guangxi) HSR started its service end of last year. A new HSR linking Kunming northward to Chengdu in Sichuan is at an advanced stage of planning, and is likely to start work next year. Kunming is not only a major rail hub in Western China, it will also be the starting point for high speed railways connecting China to Singapore, the Pan Asia Rail. The project is at various stages of planning by the countries participating in the project. China proposed last year to India for a 2,800 km HSR linking China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Kolkata in India. China is prepared to commit USD 40 billion to the project, which will be a great boost to the BCIM Corridor with an annual trade potential in excess of USD 130 billion. For China, HSR has transformed the entire country into one giant and interlinked transport grid, cutting travel time over land by up to 70% or more. HSR will also be a major building bloc for OBOR, the iron Road.[source]