OREANDA-NEWS. November 01, 2010. A goods train left Ulan Bator station for Russia’s Vostochny port for the first time, with 30 wagons carrying coal from Mongolia’s Tavan-Tolgoi mine, to be delivered to countries of the Asia-Pacific region, reported the press-centre of RZD.

Up to this point, all freight routes from Mongolia via Russia went only to the West. The launch ceremony was attended by Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin, Mongolian Minister of Roads, Transport, Construction and City Planning Khaltmaa Battulga, and other officials.

Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin said in his speech at the ceremony: "Today we are witnessing an historic event. This is the result of a colossal amount of work carried out jointly by Russia and Mongolia. We and our Mongolian colleagues have developed the whole transport chain – from creating a modern, powerful locomotive and rebuilding infrastructure to setting competitive tariffs. The launch of rail freight services from Mongolia to Far East ports is a clear demonstration of the potential for diversifying sales of Mongolian products on world markets."

The Russian Railways president said the new route will allow coal to be delivered from mines in Mongolia to Japan and South Korea via Russia’s Far East ports, and also in the future via the developing port of Rajin. Through these measures, Mongolian freight is being given a reliable link to the coast.

The first "pilot" train is led by a 2TE-116UM locomotive, specially built by Transmashholding to withstand the Mongolian climate, with towing capacity of 6,000 tons. Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin commented that the Mongolian State Great Khural’s approval in June this year of a policy bill on railway transport, under which the national railway network is to be developed on the 1520 mm gauge standard, sets a good foundation for mutually beneficial long-term cooperation between Russia and Mongolia in the transport sector.
 
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During their official visits to Mongolia in 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a range of important intergovernmental accords, which were bolstered by bilateral agreements on developing the Mongolian railway sector. In May last year, Russian Railways and the Mongolian government set up the joint venture "Infrastructure Development", to provide an efficient platform for attracting investment for the development of the Mongolian rail system.

Since December 2009, Russian Railways has acted as beneficial owner of the Russian share of the Russian-Mongolian joint stock company Ulan Bator Railway. In this brief period, the companies have jointly made substantial progress in the technical re-equipment and modernization of the network. In particular, in 2009 Russian and Mongolian specialists completed, ahead of schedule, work to lay 108 km of continuous welded rail track on the Mandal – Davaany line, which enabled an increase in service speeds to 120 km/h.

A decision has also been taken to provide technical support for Russian Railways-owned goods wagons, locomotives, and locomotive crews. As a result, the companies have managed for the first time in many years to make the railway’s operations loss-free, and ensure stable growth in the volume of freight.