Thinking REALLY big: Intercontinental High Speed Rail

This ought to cover it all.

High speed rail from Capetown, South Africa north along Africa's East Coast across Gibraltar through Portugal, connecting with Western Europe's Network. Another route up the East Coast of Africa through Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and across Eastern Europe to also join up with Western Europe's network.

Connect Western Europe's network over to Moscow and East across Lower Asia to China. Branching from the Asia route northwest to Vladivostok, then north along coastal Siberia to the Bering Straits.

Across the straits on a new bridge or through a new tunnel, then across Alaska to Canada and down the North American West Coast to Link up with California's Network at Sacramento.

South from San Diego through Central America to South America at Bogota, Columbia then over to Rio and down to Buenos Aires.

It's probably a politically and economically impossible dream, but it is technologically possible to build such a network.

It could be possible someday to book a complete surface transportation trip from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Capetown, South Africa.

The key is a bridge across the Bering Straits. Hopefully, someday that will be a reality.

There is no conceivable demand for high speed rail in any part of Africa, except the part where a line is actually being built - between Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Southern Africa has Cape Gauge from South Africa, Zimbabwe (Mozambique also) to Zambia and the Congo. The Chinese built a Cape Gauge line to Dar es Salaam. In Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda the lines are all metre gauge (because the British House of Commons thought it would be cheaper). Germany built metre gauge lines in Tanganyika.

There is still a gap between Kenya and Uganda to southern Sudan. There are plans to build a connection to Sudan (but I have been aware of these plans for 40 years). Sudan has Cape Gauge. Egypt has standard gauge. There is no connection between Sudan railways and Egypt.

Most north African lines are standard gauge, but there is a gap in Libya separating Egypt. Egypt is also separated to the east because the former lines that led to Damascus via Palestine were severed by Israel.

If the tunnel across the straits of Gibraltar is ever built there is still a broad gauge link in Algeciras - though Spain is building lots of Highspeed standard gauge lines.

I have travelled on many of the rail lines I have mentioned: Mombasa to Kampala; Nairobi to Dar es Salaam; Dar to Mwanza and Kigoma in Tanzania; Lusaka to the Cape and other lines in South Africa (many of them no longer running). To Mozambique from Rhodesia (as it then was). I have also travelled in Ghana and Nigeria.

Africa does need more connecting lines across the former colonial boundaries, but there are gauge problems. The French built only metre gauge lines; the British built mostly Cape gauge.

Before building any new lines the problem of maintenance of the existing lines needs to be solved.

George,

Thanks for your input.

I am of course, talking about completely new construction. However, it doesn't have to be all the same gauge as long as its all high speed and interconnects. I would assume that, even with HSR all the way, there would be numerous train changes and transfers on such an itinerary.

Best regards,

one thing i found when travelling in Africa , there are very few flights between neighbouring countries , indeed , many were only connected through flights to Europe . ( this was late 80 's , often the cheapest way to get from one part of Africa to the other was to fly Aeroflot via Moscow , this was due to Aeroflots depserate need of hard currency i think ). that would tell me theres not alot of demand for intercountry travel in Africa , it would be nice to see the cape to Cairo railroad realised , but i doubt it would ever be high speed as we would define it . however , 100 -150 km /hr would be a huge improvement of what exists at the moment .

for your other prosposed routes , i think it will be high speed freight , not high speed passengers that will be the driving force . asia to Europe , its surprising its not faster already .

Champlain Division wrote:George,

Thanks for your input.

I am of course, talking about completely new construction. However, it doesn't have to be all the same gauge as long as its all high speed and interconnects. I would assume that, even with HSR all the way, there would be numerous train changes and transfers on such an itinerary.

Best regards,

One could write a book on African rail systems and problems (maybe I should). Most African states and economies are too weak to support a rail network. The inherited rail networks are mostly in very bad condition indeed. The first step would be to rehabilitate the existing lines.

Nigeria has a plan to build a standard gauge network. Will they ever do it? I have my doubts. They didn't maintain their inherited system which was potentially very useful. In the 1970s I remember container trains and a decent passenger service (while it was being run under contract by Indian railways). I gather that is no longer the case.

I enjoyed travelling by train in the immediate post-colonial period but those pleasures are long gone.

Some months back, I'd tried to work out the possibilities for a world-spanning rail journey. This involved a lot of research into various regions' railroad systems, and while the better-developed regions have well-connected systems, the less-developed ones do not. In particular, the railroad lines in Africa and South America are very scattered.

As to Johannesburg / Pretoria HSR? Those two cities are 33 mi / 53 km apart, so typical HSR service would not make much sense. There already exists regional-rail service between those two cities, however. Some of South Africa's other city-to-city distances are more suitable for HSR lines, like

Johannesburg - Durban: 310 mi / 500 km
Durban - Port Elizabeth: 430 mi / 690 km
Port Elizabeth - Cape Town: 410 mi / 660 km

(great-circle distances; Google Maps doesn't do South Africa highway distances)

Going from south to north along Africa's east coast, I find

Johannesburg - Harare, ZImbabwe: 600 mi / 1000 km
Harare - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: 900 mi / 1500 km
Dar es Salaam - Nairobi, Kenya: 400 mi / 700 km
Nairobi - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 700 mi / 1200 km
Addis Ababa - Khartoum, Sudan: 600 mi / 1000 km
Khartoum - Cairo, Egypt: 1000 mi / 1600 km

From Johannesburg to Cairo, the distances are too great for plausible HSR service.

The distances get better the rest of the way to Amman, Jordan, the nearest big city that is connected to the main Eurasian railroad network. It is 300 mi / 500 km away from Cairo, though getting to there or Beirut or Damascus requires going through Israel, which is politically very difficult. Though Egypt and Jordan have have diplomatic relations with Israel, Lebanon and Syria do not.

Israel Railways has ambitious expansion plans, including a possible connection with Irbid in northern Jordan. If that gets built, Israel will rejoin the Eurasian network. Israel had severed itself from that network as part of its War of Independence, destroying a rail connection to Lebanon to make it more difficult for Arabs to attack.

There is a now-abandoned railroad line from Israel to the Suez Canal; Egypt is gradually rebuilding it. If Israel gets rail links to Egypt and Jordan, then Egypt will rejoin the Eurasian network.

Getting back to the subject of HSR, according to the Wikipedia article linked below, Syrian planners have considered 250 km/h lines between major Syrian cities.

A good place to look is http://www.seat61.com -- lots of passenger-rail info in one place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_National_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemins_de_Fer_Syriens - Syrian Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Railway

lpetrich wrote:Some months back, I'd tried to work out the possibilities for a world-spanning rail journey. This involved a lot of research into various regions' railroad systems, and while the better-developed regions have well-connected systems, the less-developed ones do not. In particular, the railroad lines in Africa and South America are very scattered.

As to Johannesburg / Pretoria HSR? Those two cities are 33 mi / 53 km apart, so typical HSR service would not make much sense. There already exists regional-rail service between those two cities, however. Some of South Africa's other city-to-city distances are more suitable for HSR lines, like

Johannesburg - Durban: 310 mi / 500 km
Durban - Port Elizabeth: 430 mi / 690 km
Port Elizabeth - Cape Town: 410 mi / 660 km

(great-circle distances; Google Maps doesn't do South Africa highway distances)

South Africa has much more pressing needs for capital than high speed rail routes. It won't happen. The Pretoria-Johannesburg line is part of a world cup football competition that is being hosted in SA. (I am not even sure what gauge it is).

Going from south to north along Africa's east coast, I find

Johannesburg - Harare, ZImbabwe: 600 mi / 1000 km
Harare - Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: 900 mi / 1500 km
Dar es Salaam - Nairobi, Kenya: 400 mi / 700 km
Nairobi - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 700 mi / 1200 km
Addis Ababa - Khartoum, Sudan: 600 mi / 1000 km
Khartoum - Cairo, Egypt: 1000 mi / 1600 km

I am familiar with most of that route from being on the ground or in trains. Believe me, there is no possible economic benefit of a high speed rail route. What is needed is rehabilitation of the existing lines - mainly better maintenance.
Nairobi to Ethiopia is quite impossible. The mountainous terrain is very difficult for rail construction. There is not enough traffic for such a route.

From Johannesburg to Cairo, the distances are too great for plausible HSR service.

Or any traffic.

The distances get better the rest of the way to Amman, Jordan, the nearest big city that is connected to the main Eurasian railroad network. It is 300 mi / 500 km away from Cairo, though getting to there or Beirut or Damascus requires going through Israel, which is politically very difficult. Though Egypt and Jordan have have diplomatic relations with Israel, Lebanon and Syria do not.

Israel Railways has ambitious expansion plans, including a possible connection with Irbid in northern Jordan. If that gets built, Israel will rejoin the Eurasian network. Israel had severed itself from that network as part of its War of Independence, destroying a rail connection to Lebanon to make it more difficult for Arabs to attack.

There will never be connecting rail traffic into or through Israel. The "political" problems are insurmountable.

There is a now-abandoned railroad line from Israel to the Suez Canal; Egypt is gradually rebuilding it. If Israel gets rail links to Egypt and Jordan, then Egypt will rejoin the Eurasian network.

This will never happen.

Getting back to the subject of HSR, according to the Wikipedia article linked below, Syrian planners have considered 250 km/h lines between major Syrian cities.

A good place to look is http://www.seat61.com -- lots of passenger-rail info in one place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_National_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemins_de_Fer_Syriens - Syrian Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Railway

Middle Eastern states may have better rail connections in future. Iraq was building a more modern system possibly interrupted by the war with Iran. When I passed from Basra to Baghdad (1988?)I noticed stretches of modernised track. However there have been two major wars since then. In the time of the Shah Iran had a modern system and it may be improving now. Turkey does have plans for high speed lines and some of them may be in operation - mainly between Istanbul to Ankara.

There are better prospects for a southern Mediterranean line. Libya is talking about building a coastal line which could connect Egypt to Tunisia, and thence to Algeria and Morocco. But the connection across the Algerian-Moroccan border is closed. Can it ever be opened? More political problems.

Morocco has a better system, up to European standard (of about 30 years ago). Could there be a link to West Africa? The problem is what would be the traffic? Iron ore from Mauretania perhaps?

There is a world rail map discussing world developments, including Africa. It shows rail gauges for each country.
"World Railway Map, with strategic analysis. Roger Lascelles. See if it is in Amazon. It has a short booklet included with it, suggesting developments. For Africa the main task would be on gauges. Amazon has it -
World Railway Gauge Map with Strategic Analysis (Red Cover)

george matthews wrote:South Africa has much more pressing needs for capital than high speed rail routes. It won't happen. The Pretoria-Johannesburg line is part of a world cup football competition that is being hosted in SA. (I am not even sure what gauge it is).

I think that you are talking about the Gautrain system, essentially a commuter train:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautrain
http://www.gautrain.co.za

It will be electric and it will use standard gauge.

There is a now-abandoned railroad line from Israel to the Suez Canal; Egypt is gradually rebuilding it. If Israel gets rail links to Egypt and Jordan, then Egypt will rejoin the Eurasian network.

This will never happen.[/quote]
I'm reluctant to speculate on that, but Egypt is gradually rebuilding the line eastward to El Arish International Airport, near the Gaza Strip. So it may be the Gaza Strip that the line eventually connects to, instead of Israel proper.

Middle Eastern states may have better rail connections in future. Iraq was building a more modern system possibly interrupted by the war with Iran. When I passed from Basra to Baghdad (1988?)I noticed stretches of modernised track. However there have been two major wars since then. In the time of the Shah Iran had a modern system and it may be improving now. Turkey does have plans for high speed lines and some of them may be in operation - mainly between Istanbul to Ankara.

To add to my Middle Eastern rail links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_State_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Republic_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Re ... n_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_railways

Turkey has rail ferries at Istanbul and at Lake Van, and its Marmaray tunnel at Istanbul should be done in 2012. Turkey's planners are considering a railroad line around Lake Van.

June launch scheduled for Iraq-Syria railway was datelined Apr 29, 2009, but I have not been able to find anything more recent.

Iran and Iraq are building two railroad connections: one in the north between Kermanshah, Iran and northern Iraq, and one in the south between Khorramshahr, Iran and Basra, Iraq. Iran already has a connection to Turkey at Razi in the northwest, a connection to Azerbaijan at Jolfa there also, and a connection to Turkmenistan at Sarakhs in the northeast.

Iran itself is expanding its railroad lines, planning to electrify some of its lines, starting with Tehran-Mashhad. Iran has recently completed a Bam - Zahedan link, which thus connects the Indian subcontinent to the main Eurasian network.

Iran's railroads are all standard gauge, with breaks of gauge at Jolfa and Sarakhs (Russian gauge) and at Zahedan (Indian-subcontinent gauge).

Pakistan's planners have not been idle. They are considering converting Pakistan's railroads to standard gauge, electrifying some of them, building a connection to China, and even building a high-speed-rail line between Sindh and Punjab provinces.

The Libyan coastal railway has moved beyond the talking stage. Contracts for 2/3 of the route have been issued, and construction began last year. China Railway Construction Corp. is building from the Tunisian border to Surt, and Russian Railways from Surt to Benghazi.

There is an extension of Iran railways being built to Herat. This will be the first standard gauge line in Afghanistan. I am sure it will be for freight only.

(All this is being discussed in Worldwide Section)

Turning to southeast Asia, Vietnam has rail connections with China, thus making it part of the main Eurasian network. However, a connection with Cambodia is still in the planning stage and Cambodia's railroads are still getting rebuilt, so Thailand will remain disconnected from that network in the near future. Thailand is connected to Malaysia, though its connection with Burma has been abandoned. But there are plans for an India-Burma connection.

george matthews wrote:There are better prospects for a southern Mediterranean line. Libya is talking about building a coastal line which could connect Egypt to Tunisia, and thence to Algeria and Morocco. But the connection across the Algerian-Moroccan border is closed. Can it ever be opened? More political problems.

According to Wikipedia's article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Railways some of that construction has already started, between the Tunisian Border and Sirt, with plans for continuing from Sirt to Benghazi.

By comparison, Tunisia has an active system that is a mix of standard-gauge and meter-gauge trackage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Railways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Tunisia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Algeria

Morocco has a better system, up to European standard (of about 30 years ago). Could there be a link to West Africa? The problem is what would be the traffic? Iron ore from Mauretania perhaps?

Or agricultural exports from the more fertile areas at the southern coast of West Africa.

Nigeria is the only country in west Africa that might actually build something - a standard gauge route to replace the Cape gauge lines. However, I doubt if I would ride such a route as standards of maintenance in Nigeria are very bad, not to mention thievery of such things as copper cables. I was working in the interior of Nigeria from 1977-1980.
I think there ought to be a coast route to connect Lagos to Accra, but I don't expect to see it. There also ought to be an east-west route in Nigeria to connect Lagos and Port Harcourt. The colonial government didn't feel it was needed as the lines they actually built were at first mainly for military purposes, then to take export groundnuts to the coast. Abuja is the new capital and has no rail route to it.

I have posted in this section news that Vietnam is about to build a standard gauge line from north to south. I imagine it will connect to China. They will use Japanese technology. It will be real high speed.

Turkey is the biggest deal in terms of inter-continental high-speed connections. Currently there are rail connections between European Russia and Asian Russia, but I believe that's it. The Marmaray tunnel will change that. Turkey is proceeding to upgrade the Ankara-Istanbul to high-speed; they have plans for a lot of other high-speed lines, and one of the higher priorities is the line to the Greek and Bulgarian borders.

They signed an agreement with Iran to improve freight rail connections, and will probably build the line around Lake Van eventually, but low passenger volumes mean that high speed on this route is probably a long way off. Iran's priority is to get good standard gauge connections to Turkey and Pakistan so that it can restore its importance as a center of (freight) trade routes.