A new railway route developed by Mongolian experts was approved by the Minister of Road, Transportation and Urban Development Kh.Battulga yesterday. The Government protocol No.283 of November 3, 2010 has granted special permission to Mongolian Railway to build primary foundation of the new railway. The company has developed the new route model with Land Relations and Geodesy Authority and Geo Master Company.

The first part of the new railway which is 1100 km long would connect Tsogttsetsii and Manlai soums of Umnugobi aimag, Urgun and Altanshiree soums of Dornogobi aimag, Khalzan, Tuvshinshireet, Bayandelger, Ulaan-Uul and Sukhbaatar soums of Sukhbaatar aimag and Matad and Bulgan soums of Dornod aimag.

The developers explained that research made by Russian and South Korean specialists was used for the model that will transport Mongolian natural resources to the world market.  They paid much attention to environmental impact and soil structure. Besides this, the specialists said new railway would not hinder herders’ nomadic life and reduce water in pasture lands. The route will not affect the dwelling of wild horses known as koulan and antelope migration. The planning was carefully made not to destroy the water sources of wild animals. Therefore, model includes tunnels through hills and total of 45.5 kilometer long bridges in more than 90 places including Kherlen River.

The next principal work for the new route will be to process the Technical and Economic Feasibility /TEF/ study. According to preliminary calculation, it will cost USD2-2.5 billion. 

Minister Kh.Battulga said he is optimistic that new railway would be built in 2-3 years time.