Indian Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has supported the development of a Trans-Asian Railway Network (TAR).
Speaking at the 7th Meeting of Railways of South and South East Asian Countries in New Delhi recently, Bansal said: “India is committed to the development of inter-country rail linkages and it extends its fullest support to the development of Trans-Asian Railway Network.”
The two-day summit was organised by Asian Institute of Transport Development (AITD), a not-for-profit organisation devoted to infrastructure sector with special focus on transport and logistics.
“India has decided to extend this programme for a further period of five years.
“TAR network would provide a major land corridor for transport of people and goods across the frontiers of the member countries,” Bansal added.
The Trans-Asian Railway Network (TAR) is a project of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) to create an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia.
The proposed 80,900-km railway network will stretch from the Pacific seaboard of Asia and to the edge of Europe, passing through 26 countries.
This is a wonderful report, and the Trans-Asia Rail System should be built immediately! We have heard much talk about it for several years. What we need to see now is actual construction work in progress, and quickly!
This is some exciting stuff. There is already an expansive railway network in Europe, so building one across Asia to link up with it would be great, although it would probably be better for freight services than passenger. What is also exciting is that countries would be working together to achieve this engineering masterpiece.