BEIJING – Authorities in Shenzhen are looking at the feasibility of developing an intercontinental rail link between South China and Europe
The proposed railway would connect Shenzhen and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
A seminar will be held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, this week to discuss the project.
The line would travel through 21 countries including Myanmar, India and Turkey, and cover more than 15,150-kms, some 3,000-kms shorter than the sea route.
Shenzen Daily said, if constructed, “the railway would be the third linking Asia and Europe”.
Ren Jia, deputy director of the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, said, “The idea to build such a rail link was first proposed in the 1990s, but this will be the first time a full-scale seminar will be held to discuss the subject.”
Currently, there are two transcontinental railways: The Euro-Asian rail link, which runs 13,000-kms from Vladivostok in Russia to Rotterdam; and the 10,900-kms New Euro-Asian Continental Bridge, which runs from Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province to Rotterdam.
