The Mongolian-Russian joint venture Ulaanbaatar Railway made a historic achievement in 2019 by transporting an unprecedented volume of freight. The Mongolian line is extremely important – it is an extension of the famous Trans-Siberian Railway and links Asia with Europe. Ulaanbaatar Railway JSC transported 25.7 million tonnes; this represents a considerable increase in the freight forwarding through Mongolia.

The Ulaanbaatar Railway JSC conducts 69.4 percent of total freight and 21.7 percent of passenger services in Mongolia. Railway transportation has increased threefold since 2000.

However, challenges remain: Ulaanbaatar Railway has failed to solve some investment problems on technical upgrades. For example, the standard age for passenger carriages is 25 years and for freight wagons it is 33 years. Furthermore, 46.6 percent of rolling stock – or some 1400 out of 3324 carriages and wagons – have passed their projected service lives, said L.Bold, the head of the Wagon Division at the Ulaanbaatar Transportation Authority.