Proposed EU-China railway to take exotic route
ANDREW RETTMAN
08.06.2006 @ 15:38 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Kazakhstan is hoping for European support to help start construction of a €4 billion railway line linking China to the EU in a project that could rival the famous Trans-Siberian railway in Russia.
A recent study by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) found the bank "uncomfortable" with the scheme on feasibility grounds with "no plans to channel funds so far," a spokeswoman said.
Traditional Central Asian dwelling: yurts, warlords and gas pipelines on the EU-China trade road (Photo: wikipedia)
But Kazakhstan diplomats indicate the EBRD has shown interest in funding deeper legal and environmental analyses, adding "[we] have enough money for construction of this railway on our territory."
The 4,500 km line from the Chinese border would see 3,700 km of track in Kazakhstan, before hooking south through Turkmenistan and Iran, diving under the Turkish Bosphorus in a new tunnel extension and terminating in Bulgaria.
It would have a narrow gauge compatible with European tracks, unlike the wide gauge on Russian rail that sees locomotives and carriages hoisted up and down on the EU-Russia border in routine two hour delays.
European Commission officials indicated a new China link is desirable theoretically as "traffic flows with the Far East, particularly to or from China, are expected to grow rapidly."
But a 2005 transport strategy paper by the so-called "Van Miert" high-level group envisaged adding new branches to the Trans-Siberian railway rather than building a major new southeastern corridor.
If Astana captures funds quickly, the project could start construction this year and be finished by 2011, by which time the terminus country Bulgaria is set to become a fully-fledged member of the EU.
The railway would initially carry 35 to 40 million tonnes of cargo per year rising to 100 million tonnes a year in subsequent phases with the possibility of adding passenger wagons.
The project - science fiction for now - would give a new option to the hundreds of European students and Russophiles, who each year undertake a personal odyssey on the Trans-Siberian Express.
Summer holiday
If the Trans-Kazakhstan railway existed today, travellers could take 18 days passing through some of the most dangerous territories and exotic political regimes in the world en route to the Chinese economic tiger.
They could stop off and chat to the Kurdish warlords helping protect EU oil pipelines in north eastern Turkey, visit Iran's alleged uranium enrichment plant in Esfahan and take snaps of a giant golden statue of Turkmenistan leader Saparmurat Niyazov in Ashgabat.
Chugging across the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, students could reflect that president Nursultan Nazarbayev's super-rich government stands accused of rigging elections and assassinating political opponents to help stay in power.
But it is anybody's guess what EU relations with the planned railway's host countries might look like in 2011 and beyond.
Turkey will probably be in the middle of EU membership talks that could take up to 2016 to settle, with Ankara's handling of Kurdish separatists a potential stumbling block in the process.
Iran could be running an EU-backed light water nuclear power reactor while importing enriched uranium and getting ready to ship gas to Austria under the Nabucco pipeline scheme.
Brussels air miles
European Commission officials might be flying back and forth to Turkmenistan to broker gas and oil deals, as advocated in a February report by German conservative MEP Daniel Caspary but slammed by major NGOs on human rights grounds.
Even more Brussels officials could be flocking to Kazakhstan to help construct a new Caspian Sea gas pipeline and a nuclear power plant on Lake Balkhash, while negotiating Astana's entry into the European Neighbourhood Policy.
"Now there is a trend to strengthen relations with Kazakhstan because it has a very strong and fast-growing economy," a European Parliament official linked to the Central Asian delegation said.
"But you have to consider if this kind of project will help democracy and human rights in the region - most of the big companies that might be involved in the construction would belong to the Kazakhstan president or his family."