Regular railroad traffic between southern Primorye, China might start this fall
MOSCOW. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Regular train traffic along the border crossing from Makhalino in Russia's Primorye territory to Hunchun in the Jilin Province of northeastern China might kick off in September, Far Eastern Railway, which is part of OJSC Russian Railways (RZD), reported, citing Vice President Anatoly Krasnoshchek.
As reported, railroad passage has just resumed after a nine-year interruption. On Thursday, the first freight train comprised of 30 railcars loaded with coal destined for Chinese consignees was sent via the international corridor connecting southern Primorye with China.
"If we continue to revive the existing route, then by September we'll be able to organize constant traffic on this section," Krasnoshchek said.
According to Russian Deputy Transport Minister Alexei Tsydenov, who is quoted in the RZD statement, the border crossing makes it possible not only to beef up economic ties between Primorye and the Jilin Province, but it will also become "a transit bridge between Europe and Asia" in the future.
According to Russian and foreign experts, up to 8 million tonnes of cargo could be shipped through the border crossing every year, including 4.5 million tonnes of exports from Russia.
Far Eastern Railways' corporate publication previously cited its Deputy Director for Vladivostok Territorial Management Sergei Ryabov as saying that China had confirmed first-stage freight shipments at 2 million tonnes a year. That quantity is subsequently scheduled to rise to 8 million tonnes.
Last fall, RZD President Vladimir Yakunin said that the opening of this crossing will make it possible to deliver coal and ore to China, in addition to creating the opportunity "to significantly shorten the cargo route from China to Russia, and making it possible for Chinese businesses to pave the shortest possible route to the Sea of Japan, where China could also make deliveries to several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region."
The Makhalino-Hunchun route is the only trans-border railway crossing between Russia and the Jilin Province. It was commissioned in 2000, but because of unresolved connection issues, the lighting and video monitoring systems were closed in 2004.
Zolotoye Zveno, a company established by the Property Fund of the Primorye Territory, Far Eastern Railway, Administration of the Khasansky District and JSC Transsvyazstroy in 1992 to construct and operate the border crossing, was declared bankrupt in 2010. Afterwards, the already built railroad segment was transferred to RZD.
Resumption in the border crossing's operations has been postponed several times. It was originally supposed to open back up in the spring of 2011, then last fall.