Northern East West Freight Corridor
Encyclopedia
The Northern East West Freight Corridor, usually referred to as the N.E.W. Corridor, is a project organized by the International Union of Railways UIC
and Transportutvikling AS to connect the east coast of the United States
to East Asia
by train and ship.
The plan calls for two main routes. Both routes start from east coast ports of North America
such as Halifax Harbour
, then across the Atlantic Ocean
to the port of Narvik, from there by rail, often called the Eurasian Land Bridge
, through Sweden
to Finland
and Russia
. From Russia there are two routes: either via the Trans-Siberian Railway
to Vostochny Port
, or though Kazakhstan
to Ürümqi
in China
. From Ürümqi the route goes to Lanzhou
and possibly the port city Lianyungang
.
and 35% by a Norwegian county, Nordland
.
or in a port in the Baltic Sea
, avoiding the break-of-gauge
at the Swedish-Finnish border, and involving fewer countries. The Russians prefer to use their own ports.
Containers China-Europe are not planned to go over Narvik; instead they go by rail all the way, either through Poland or through Finland. However shipping over the Indian Ocean/Suez Canal is the most common route for now. Reloading ship/rail is avoided especially if low volume because of the delay to have enough number of trains to fill up a ship.
Containers USA-Europe go to other ports, depending on European destination. For Scandinavia they go through Gothenburg
. For Russia they go through Saint Petersburg
. It is hard to change this since the volume of these ports and the fact that they are located closer to the end-destination make them more competitive than Narvik.
International Union of Railways
The UIC , or International Union of Railways, is an international rail transport industry body.- Brief history :The railways of Europe originated as separate concerns. There were many border changes after World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. Colonial railways were the responsibility of the...
and Transportutvikling AS to connect the east coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
by train and ship.
Route
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
such as Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.-Harbour description:The harbour is called Jipugtug by the Mi'kmaq first nation, anglisized as Chebucto...
, then across the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to the port of Narvik, from there by rail, often called the Eurasian Land Bridge
Eurasian Land Bridge
The Eurasian Land Bridge, sometimes called the New Silk Road, is a term used to describe the rail transport route for moving freight and passengers overland from Pacific seaports in Siberia and China to seaports in Europe...
, through Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. From Russia there are two routes: either via the Trans-Siberian Railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
to Vostochny Port
Vostochny Port
Vostochny Port is intermodal container port at the Eastern end of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the largest port in the Russian Far East. It is located in Vrangel , Primorsky Krai. A deep-water port on the Nakhodka Bay , it operates year round and is suitable for handling large tonnage ships...
, or though Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
to Ürümqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. From Ürümqi the route goes to Lanzhou
Lanzhou
Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. A prefecture-level city, it is a key regional transportation hub, allowing areas further west to maintain railroad connections to the eastern half of the country....
and possibly the port city Lianyungang
Lianyungang
Lianyungang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north...
.
Current status
The project is financed for a test run through NEW Corridor AS, a company owned 65% by UICInternational Union of Railways
The UIC , or International Union of Railways, is an international rail transport industry body.- Brief history :The railways of Europe originated as separate concerns. There were many border changes after World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. Colonial railways were the responsibility of the...
and 35% by a Norwegian county, Nordland
Nordland
is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...
.
Benefits
Transportutvikling claims in their report that this corridor will be an important alternative to the traditional shipping route from China to the U.S.A. The main reasons given are:- Shorter route for some destinations. The route seems longer on a traditional map, but on a globe it is easy to see that it is shorter than alternatives through central Europe.
- Reduced transit time, because of faster land transport and shorter travel distance.
- Compared to shipping from China, there is a special advantage for parts of China far away from the coast, those containers must be freighted a long way on railway anyway. These areas are the main initial target for the NEW.
- The route does not have the congestionTraffic congestionTraffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
problem of the densely populated areas of coastal China and constrained ports of west coast USA. Because the route goes through sparsely populated areas, it is relatively easy and cheap to increase capacity. - Most of the infrastructure is already there. The main need is expanding ports and making train shifts at borders more efficient.
- The port of Narvik in northern Norway is ice-free all year, with a railway connection to Russia through Sweden and Finland.
- This route avoids the six bottlenecks of global shipping: the Panama CanalPanama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, the Suez CanalSuez CanalThe Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, the Straits of Gibraltar, the BosporusBosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
, the Straits of Hormuz and the Straits of Malacca, which 60% of all shipping passes through. - It is a backup solution in case of terror or traffic incidents, conflict in South China Ocean or labour strikes on the Pacific shipping route. The west coast port strike showed how important and crucial ports are for the U.S. economy.
Technical
Major issues with the corridor are technical, financial and political. The technical issues are:- The rail gaugeRail gaugeTrack gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
s differs. Russia, Kazakhstan and Finland use 1,520/1,524 mm broad gaugeBroad gaugeBroad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
, while China, Sweden and Norway use the standard gaugeStandard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
of 1,435 mm. This adds overhead at border crossings. This effect can arguably be decreased with efficiency and investments. - Increasing train speeds. The Trans-Siberian RailwayTrans-Siberian RailwayThe Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...
is currently increasing service speed to 55 kilometres per hour. The route would have to reduce time on track and when changing tracks. - Increasing the limited port capacity in Narvik for China–US trade.
- Reducing round trip time for the customers by increasing speed and frequency. This requires a high volume of goods.
- Railway capacity. There is not capacity for 45 more trains per day along the MalmbananMalmbananThe Iron Ore Line is a long railway line between Riksgränsen and Boden in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The line contains two branches, from Kiruna to Svappavaara and from Gällivare to Koskullskulle. The term is often colloquially used to also include the Ofoten Line, from Riksgränsen to Narvik in...
. Sweden is currently upgrading the railway near the Finnish border, which is in a bad state. There is a suggestion to build a railway SkibotnSkibotnSkibotn is a village with approximately 700 inhabitants in Storfjord municipality, located on the southeastern shore of the Lyngen Fjord in the Northern Norwegian county of Troms. The village area is located at the crossroads of the highways E6 and E8...
(Norway)– KolariKolariKolari is a municipality of Finland at the Swedish border, which follows the Torne River, the longest free-flowing river in Europe.It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
(Finland) for this traffic and mining products from the Kolari region. It would have Russian gaugeRussian gaugeIn railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and . In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to gauge....
and would avoid the break-of-gaugeBreak-of-gaugeWith railways, a break-of-gauge occurs where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded...
. Another suggestion is a railway from KirkenesKirkenesis a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark in the far northeast of Norway...
.
Political
The political issues are more severe than the technical:- The bureaucratic procedures at border crossings is long, inefficient and problematic. Several days of the journey is inefficiently used at borders.
- The border crossing of Kazakhstan need more negotiating.
- Even though Russia is stable, it is in 121st place in Index of Economic Freedom, while China and Kazakhstan are ranked 111 and 113 respectively. NEW's proponents say that the corridor has lower risk than the alternatives, and reduces risk by increasing the alternatives.
- Railway track is vulnerable in a way that ocean shipping routes are not. A train crash, railway sabotage or terrorism can stop all transport for weeks. The Trans-Siberian Railway by its very length is hard to protect. On the other hand, sea piracyPiracyPiracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
in the Gulf of AdenGulf of AdenThe Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is about 20 miles wide....
has become a serious problem for the Europe-Asia shipping. There is no such problem for the USA-Asia shipping.
Financial
The most crucial issues are financial. For this route to be possible the frequency of departure to be above a minimum rate. Chinese ports handled in 2003 (an increase of 29.7% from 2002). "The Midwest of China did in 2002 export more than to Europe and close to to USA. If only 50% of this volume could be carried out by train it will represent approximately 4 daily trains along the N.E.W. Corridor", according to Mr. Xiao, Managing Director of Sinotrans (June 29, 2003, Helsinki). There has to be ships leaving Narvik every day for acceptable frequency, if the ship is (a mid size transport ship) there has to be a yearly transport of (or about 45 trains a day).Start up issues
There is also the problem financing the start up phase of the corridor. The Chinese, Kazakh, Russian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian bureaucracy has to approve plans, improve routines and train customs officers. There is need for infrastructure improvement. And finally there have to be enough trains to run at several times a day on a rail journey taking up to 14-28 days for a train round trip. 45 trains every day on a two-week round trip adds up to about 630 trains.Competitive routes
Apart from shipping all the way between USA and China, ship/train routes other than through Narvik are possible. Reloading could be done in MurmanskMurmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
or in a port in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, avoiding the break-of-gauge
Break-of-gauge
With railways, a break-of-gauge occurs where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded...
at the Swedish-Finnish border, and involving fewer countries. The Russians prefer to use their own ports.
Containers China-Europe are not planned to go over Narvik; instead they go by rail all the way, either through Poland or through Finland. However shipping over the Indian Ocean/Suez Canal is the most common route for now. Reloading ship/rail is avoided especially if low volume because of the delay to have enough number of trains to fill up a ship.
Containers USA-Europe go to other ports, depending on European destination. For Scandinavia they go through Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. For Russia they go through Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. It is hard to change this since the volume of these ports and the fact that they are located closer to the end-destination make them more competitive than Narvik.