Trans-Mongolian Railway
The Trans-Mongolian Railway, a prominent offshoot of the Trans-Siberian Railway, connects Mongolia with the border of China and via the Trans-Siberian Railway with Moscow. Starting at Ulaan Ude in Russia, the rail line extends approximately 530 kilometers to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and a further 730 kilometers through the Gobi Desert to the border with China at Dzamiin Uud. At this point the trains must change tracks, owing to the fact that Soviets built their railways a gauge wider to prevent foreign invasions by rail. From the Chinese border, the train travels another 800 kilometers past the Great Wall to Beijing.
The rail from Ulaan Ude to Ulaanbaatar was finished in 1949 by a Mongolian-Soviet joint-stock company. Soon after, the rail extended to the border with China. The Trans-Mongolian Railway quickly became the primary mode of transportation between Mongolia and Russia and consequently increased economic and cultural relations between the two countries. In addition to providing transportation between Moscow, Ulaanbaatar, and sometimes Beijing, the line served as a main line for spurs to several important mining sites. Rail lines now run from the Trans-Mongolian Railway to mines in Choir, Erdenet, Bor Ondor, and Baganuur.
Further Reading
The Academy of Sciences of the Mongolian People's Republic. (1990) Information Mongolia. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
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