vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #165 / Opinion / Reading article...

A small news item recently brought an encouraging word for those seeking to boost Primorye’s role as a major cargo link between Europe and the Far East. A train with 50 containers from Korea, Japan and the Philippines left Nakhodka April 16 for Brest, a trip that should take nine days.

Officials have given it top priority in order to prove the benefits of train travel, rather than sending cargo the long way around. Officials from Moscow to Vladivostok have long recognized the potential of the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

They also know that reports of high tarriffs and delayed cargo do nothing to encourage those who might otherwise be interested in using the railway. So it’s good that they are trying to prove the viability of transporting cargo overland.

There is a catch. This train gets priority over all other trains. That makes a nine-day run possible, but manufacturers may be more impressed when ordinary trains can cross the Eurasian continent that quickly.