Rail transport in Mongolia
Encyclopedia
Routes
The Trans-Mongolian RailwayTrans-Mongolian Railway
The Trans-Mongolian Railway connects Ulan-Ude, on the Trans-Baikal railway in Russia, with the Chinese city of Jining, by way of Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia....
connects 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...
from Ulan Ude in 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...
to Erenhot
Erenhot
Erenhot is a city located in the Gobi Desert, in the Xilin Gol league of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China . It has 16,330 inhabitants and the elevation is...
and Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
through the capital Ulan Bator. The Mongolian section of this line runs for 1110 kilometres (689.7 mi). The Trans-Mongolian Railway runs through Mongolia on Russian gauge
Russian gauge
In 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....
track, changing to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
track after entering China. There are several spur lines: to the copper combine in Erdenet
Erdenet
Erdenet is the third-largest city in Mongolia and the capital of the aimag of Orkhon.Located in the northern part of the country, it lies in a valley between the Selenge and Orkhon rivers about 150 miles northwest of Ulan Bator, the capital...
, to coal mines in Sharyngol, Nalaikh
Nalaikh
Nalaikh is one of nine Düüregs of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. It is subdivided into 6 Khoroos .Other than most other düüregs, Nalaikh is technically a separate city, but still under the common administration of the capital....
and Baganuur
Baganuur
Baganuur is one of nine düüregs of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. It is subdivided into four khoroos .Baganuur is actually a separate city, located as an exclave of 620 km² at the border between the Töv and Khentii aimags. It was created as a Soviet military base.Later Soviet Union...
, to the flourspar mine in Bor-Öndör and to the former Soviet military base in Züünbayan.
A separate railway line exists in the east of the country between Choibalsan and the Trans-Siberian at Borzya
Borzya
Borzya is a town and the administrative center of Borzinsky District of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia. Population: -Geography:The town is located on the Borzya River, a right-hand tributary of the Onon, southeast of Chita about from the border of Mongolia to the south, and from the border of China...
; however, that line is closed to passengers beyond the Mongolian town of Chuluunkhoroot. This line used to have a spur line to the uranium mine at Mardai
Mardai
Mardai is an abandoned uranium mining town located in the Dornod aimag of Mongolia, in a remote area north of Choibolsan.The Dornod area was prospected for uranium ore by the Soviet Union beginning in the late 1940's. In 1972, a Soviet geological expedition discovered significant uranium reserves...
, however this spur line was torn up and sold in the late 1990s/ early 2000s.
For domestic transport, daily trains run from Ulaanbaatar to Darkhan, Sukhbaatar, and Erdenet, as well as Zamyn-Üüd, Choir and Sainshand. Mongolia uses the (Russian gauge
Russian gauge
In 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....
) with a total system length of 1810 kilometres (1,124.7 mi).
Rolling stock
As Mongolia's railroads are not electrified, UBTZ relies entirely on Diesel traction. Most common locomotives are M62 variants, including five rebuilt 2Zagal units. Other engines include TEM2 and TE1162TE116
The 2TE116 is a broad gauge double diesel locomotive manufactured by Luhanskteplovoz, used extensively to haul heavy freight trains in the Soviet Union and its successor states, particularly by RZD....
variants, DASH-7 and one Evolution locomotive
GE Evolution Series
The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems, designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The first pre-production units were built in 2003. Evolution Series locomotives are equipped with either AC or DC...
on lease from GE. In October 2010, Ulaanbaatar Railway ordered 35 2TE116
2TE116
The 2TE116 is a broad gauge double diesel locomotive manufactured by Luhanskteplovoz, used extensively to haul heavy freight trains in the Soviet Union and its successor states, particularly by RZD....
diesel freight locomotives from Transmash.