Trans-Asian Railway. The Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) is a project to create an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia. The TAR is a project of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Overview[edit] The project was initiated in the 1960s, with the objective of providing a continuous 8,750 miles (14,080 km) rail link between Singapore and Istanbul, Turkey, with possible further connections to Europe and Africa. At the time shipping and air travel were not as well developed, and the project promised to significantly reduce shipping times and costs between Europe and Asia. Progress in developing the TAR was hindered by political and economic obstacles throughout the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. The TAR was seen as a way to accommodate the huge increases in international trade between Eurasian nations and facilitate the increased movements of goods between countries. By 2001, four corridors had been studied as part of the plan: Agreement[edit]
Mobile. If(typeof(cachebuster) == "undefined"){var cachebuster = Math.floor(Math.random()*10000000000)}if(typeof(dcopt) == "undefined"){var dcopt = "dcopt=ist;"} else {var dcopt = ""}if(typeof(tile) == "undefined"){var tile = 1} else {tile++} This article is an itinerary. The Silk Road crosses Asia from China to Europe. It is not really a single road, rather a sea & land network of related ancient trade routes. One poem calls it "The Golden Road to Samarkand".
Understand[edit] Caravans have been travelling the Silk Road for over 2000 years, and Chinese silk was reaching Rome before the time of Christ. Ideas also travelled this road. Marco Polo followed this route, reaching China overland via Khotan and beginning his homeward journey with a ship on the Maritime Silk Road from Quanzhou to Iran. Many travellers today follow all or part of this ancient path by train, bus and private car. Prepare[edit] This is not an easy route or one for the novice traveller. Get in[edit] Route[edit] Beyond Kashgar[edit] How to plan & book a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Here is a summary of all the most important trains on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Make sure you read the notes! The times shown are departure times unless it says otherwise, at most stations you can assume the arrival time will be 5 to 15 minutes before departure.
There are other slower trains not shown here, simply use the Real Russia online system here to find train times for all possible trains, or to confirm these times. All trains run to Moscow time whilst in Russia, and all Russian timetables quote Moscow time, even though local time can be up to 7 hours ahead of Moscow. So the times shown in the timetable below for all Russian locations are Moscow time, but the times shown for locations in Mongolia and China are local time. Fun with time zones... Eastbound timetable... * Mongolia reintroduced Daylight Saving Time in March 2015. ** Moscow-Beijing is 7,622 km (4,735 miles) via Ulan Bator or 8,986 km (5,623 miles) via Harbin.
Note A: Rossiya. Note D: Vostok. Note E: Runs daily. Silk Road. This article is an itinerary. The Silk Road crosses Asia from China to Europe. It is not really a single road, rather a sea & land network of related ancient trade routes. One poem calls it "The Golden Road to Samarkand". Understand[edit] Caravans have been travelling the Silk Road for over 2000 years, and Chinese silk was reaching Rome before the time of Christ. Ideas also travelled this road. Marco Polo followed this route, reaching China overland via Khotan and beginning his homeward journey with a ship on the Maritime Silk Road from Quanzhou to Iran.
Many travellers today follow all or part of this ancient path by train, bus and private car. Prepare[edit] This is not an easy route or one for the novice traveller. If you are doing the full route, bring phrasebooks for at least Chinese, Russian and Persian. Note that parts of this route may be difficult or impassable in winter, and various borders may sometimes be closed for political reasons. Get in[edit] Route[edit] Beyond Kashgar[edit] The Great Silk Road guide :: Countries of the Great Silk Road Travel along The Great Silk Road. The Great Silk Road is the popular name given to the system of caravan trade routes that lasted for many centuries and linked Eastern and Western civilization between the Ancient and Middle Ages. The main route of the Silk Road traveled through China along the Gan-Su corridor, then through the Tarima basin, and the highlands of the Pamir and Tian-Shan ranges, into Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and still further along to the trading centers of the Near East, Countries of the Silk Road, and Europe.
The Great Silk Road first operated as a route between China and the capital of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century BC. It was approximately 7000 kilometers long. The most valuable commodity imported from China was silk, which is an obvious explanation why this entire transcontinental trade route was named The Silk Road.
The Great Silk Road is one of the most significant achievements in the history of world civilization. Begin your journey! How to travel the Silk Route & Central Asia by train | Train times & information. The Silk Route & Central Asia by train The most usual (and easiest) route from Europe to China is via the classic Trans-Siberian Railway, shown in blue on the map below. But there is another route now open to foreigners, the so-called 'Silk Route' via Kazakhstan, shown on the map in yellow. Let's be clear, if you want to travel between Europe and China, the main Trans-Siberian route is faster and easier to arrange, both in terms of visas and train tickets - for a start, just one Trans-Siberian train will get you all the way from Moscow to Beijing.
The 'Silk route' will take a little more thought and organisation, with more visas, train tickets and stopovers to arrange. On this & other pages... London - Moscow - This is the first step, with daily trains taking 48 hours. Moscow - Almaty or Astana (Kazakhstan) - This is the direct option, take this train if you want to head straight for China. Moscow - Bishkek (Kyrgistan) Almaty or Astana - Ürümqi - The next step on the route to China. How to Travel the Silk Road.