From Singapore to Scotland by Train

The TAR project was started in the 1960s initially to provide a 14,000 kilometre unbroken rail line between Singapore and Istanbul.

When completed, the total length of the inter-continental rail link will be a whopping 81,000 kilometres, considerably longer than the 9,288 kilometre long Trans-Siberian railway which covers eight time zones.

An inter-governmental agreement on the TAR project has already been signed by 18 countries, including Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Nepal, Laos, and Mongolia.

Cascading effect

The TAR project is expected to have a positive cascading effect on the promotion of trade and tourism, as well as on people-to-people contact between Asia and Europe.

It is hoped it will open up a brighter future for commercial rail, facilitating the transport of containers from Singapore to other regional countries, and from there on to European destinations and drastically cutting down the time and costs needed to travel by sea routes.

In Southeast Asia, the TAR network will have two major lines, with a total length of 8,135km. The first will run Singapore -- Bangkok -- Phnom Penh -- Loc Ninh -- HCM City -- Hanoi -- Lao Cai -- Hekou -- Kunming. The second will run from the Thai capital Bangkok to Myanmar's former capital Yangon.

Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand have all agreed in principle to help Cambodia restore a 48 kilometre section along the Cambodia-Thailand border.

India's commitment

India's commitment to the TAR project will involve the construction of a 350 kilometre link by Indian Railways between Jiribam in India and Moreh in Myanmar.

The total cost is expected to be about 30 billion rupees (ca. US $740 million) and India will pay about 18 billion. The rest of the sum is expected to be borne by Myanmar.

Although India ratified the agreement on March 8, the project, which has the full support of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is caught up in a bureaucratic maze, and no date has yet been fixed to start the work.

The ministries of home affairs and of defence have yet to work out the exact modalities and there are apprehensions about security matters.

International rail corridors

With technical and financial help from Japan, India has already launched dedicated freight corridors to link four metropolises in a project aimed to decongest passenger traffic.

The planned eastern international corridor will link the city of Kohima in the Indian state of Nagaland to Myanmar, and to railway lines in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the south, and south-eastern China and Russia.

India is also giving technical assistance in building the railroads in Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Bangladesh, as well as advice on how these countries can develop their operating infrastructure.

India is also counselling Pakistan and other nations on rail links to Southwest Asia. Iran is currently constructing an internal rail line, to be completed in mid-2008, which will connect Iran's national rail system to Pakistan's.

Technical issues

Feasibility studies have already been completed, with technical experts concluding that the link can be built although there are some technical problems which need addressing.

For example, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar still have a meter gauge rail network, whereas for an uninterrupted rail journey from Singapore to Scotland, all the participating countries will have to have a standard gauge.

There is no doubt that the rail-link will be beneficial to trade and commerce as costs and time will be reduced but it remains to be seen whether tourists choose to travel by train rather than jumping on a plane.