"BIG TICKET". Is Alberta to Alaska Railway Port Mac's Sugar Savior? The railway may become a reality in 2022 if Sean McCoshen of A2A Railway has his way. By Dennis Anderson, AP, Jan. 3, 2019.
Russia suggests to US and Europe to use transport corridor via her territory, Russian media reports but next US President should lift anti-Russian sanctions to get a deal
by Fyodor Soloview, InterBering, LLC, October 26, 2016
Connecting America And Russia By Railway Tunnel.
INTER. Sept. 23, 2012
ANALYSIS: China-Russia-US Bering Strait Railroad Plan 'Feasible'
RiaNovosti, May 13, 2014
InterBering, LLC English Connecting people and continents.
Join Russia and USA by Rail Tunnels under the Bering Strait?
Voice of America.
April 28, 2012 -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
America - Asia - Europe -------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
A Superhighway Across the Bering Strait
by Adrian Shirk
, The Atlantic, July 1, 2015
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Moving Canadian products to China - by railway
by Ger. Pilger,
April 17, 2015
-------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- By Ed Peters, South China Morning Post, Oct. 4, 2020.
ASPECTS OF RAILROAD TECHNOLOGY
Speech by Louis T. Cerny, International Railroad Consultant
As delivered at the August 17-19, 2011 conference on
First of all, let me thank the conference organizers for the opportunity to speak to you today about a project that could mark the most significant joining of Russian and American forces since Russian and American armies joined at the Elbe River in Germany on April 26, 1945. But in this case we can envision Russian and American tunnel workers meeting at a point under the Bering Strait as they complete a railroad tunnel that will join by land transportation the world's five largest continents, all except Australia and Antarctica.
So there is no reason this railroad cannot be built. It is not a manned mission to Mars, with many unknowns. It is a very large project, but one which we can confidently engineer. This difference in distance is why the work you are undertaking to build a railroad to the tip of North-east Russia near Uelen is so important. The political leaders and investors who will make decisions on building a tunnel under the Bering Strait can be discouraged by the long gaps in land infrastructure. A railroad to Uelen will show, in a way understandable by a non-technical person, what engineers already know, that such construction is feasible. The existence of the railroad will make the need for the tunnel more obvious. Once construction of the railroad in North-East Russia advances to within the same distance of the Bering Strait as where railroads and paved highways exist in Alaska, then interest in building the tunnel will increase, along with the Alaska - Canada rail connection. This point at which this will be achieved is about half way from the area north of Magadan to Uelen. Once the need for the tunnel to close the land transportation gap is obvious, work can begin for the great international avenue of commerce that a double-track railroad via the Bering Strait would create. How much can a modern double-track freight railroad carry? Capacity in international cargo is usually measured in TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) which means the equivalent of a twenty foot (6.6 meter) container. One double-stack railroad platform can carry 4 TEUs, which is equal to two 40-foot (13.1 meter) containers. A typical situation in North America today is a train with 125 platforms carrying 500 TEUs. Using a casual operation, such a train every 25 minutes in each direction is easily achievable. With 20 hours of track time available for running trains each day, this gives 24,000 TEUs in each direction each day. This is the equivalent of several container ships of very large capacity. Best presently-utilized technology would allow trains of 150 double stack platforms (600 TEUs) every 15 minutes in each direction with 20 hours of track time per day, which gives 48,000 TEUs in each direction each day. In terms of future possibilities, the use of so-called "distributed power," where locomotives are spaced throughout the train but controlled from the front locomotive, allows much longer trains without increasing longitudinal stresses in the couplers and wagon frames. Thus 1200 TEU trains are possible, and with an interval between trains of 12 minutes and 20 hours of track time each day, this is over 144,000 TEUs in each direction , or 288,000 total each day. This can be compared with an estimate of about 120,000 loaded TEUs per day currently passing through the Suez Canal. In terms of haulage of tonnage of bulk freight, individual tracks have carried over one million short (2000 pounds) tons in one direction in a single day, such as in the Powder River Basin in the United States. Thus a yearly tonnage on a double track railroad of 600 million tons per year is within present technology. 600 million tons per year is the projected capacity of the Panama Canal once the third lock project is finished in a few years. The present capacity of the Panama Canal is about 300 million tons per year. The proposed railroad via the Bering Strait Tunnel can serve many functions at one time, including internal transportation for North-East Russia; transport connections with the rest of Russia, the Middle East, and Europe; and international shipping now done by ocean ships. In addition to Russia and the United States, the railroad would be directly beneficial to Canada, China, Korea, Mexico, and Vietnam via existing railroads (assuming resolution of the division of Korea), plus the possibility of additional Asian countries with the construction of rail connections such as Japan, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Nepal, and India. Thus North-East Russia can envision a future where it is an artery of the international flow of commerce, with excellent transportation facilities allowing good access to international markets for its resources, and a prosperous population with good dependable jobs. In closing, let me say that we all understand that great projects take time, and we all understand that a railroad connecting Asia and North America via a tunnel under the Bering Strait and operating through North-East Russia will be one of the greatest civil engineering projects in history. Perhaps a date for its completion could also be a commemoration, when, on April 26, 2025, Russians and Americans again, 80 years later, meet in triumphant accomplishment. Thank you for your attention. THE END
Also, more by
Louis T. Cerny
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Mr. Robert VanderClute
Mr. VanderClute is a Senior Vice President of safety and operations at the Association of American Railroads. His department's responsibilities include the oversight of the industry's homeland security plan, equipment interchange standards, car service rules, quality assurance programs, and safety initiatives in addition to environmental issues, hazardous materials, communication signals, and tank car safety standards and design. Mr. VanderClute is the industry's liaison with the FRA, NTSB, EPA, DHS, FCC, and other regulatory bodies. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, where he majored in transportation, Mr. VanderClute completed graduate school programs at both the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia and the Harvard Business School. He is a "fellow" with CILT and is active in several public and professional organizations.
Americans and Russians meet on the Elbe,
Mr. Louis T. Cerny |