Parliament is
presently discussing the Government’s draft policy on railway transportation.
It proposes three railway routes totaling 5,000 kilometers in length, and will
have three sections – Tavantolgoi to Sainshand, Tavantolgoi to China, and
Tavantolgoi to Russia.  Rail tracks in
Mongolia are in the Soviet-style broad gauge, now used in Russia, Finland, and
in some countries in the former USSR and the Eastern bloc (some others have
changed over to the narrower gauge that is more the international norm). The
narrow gauge is used in China. Narrow-gauge 
tracks are 15 percent lighter than the broad ones, but they have  a larger carrying capacity.

Energy Resource
Company was to build the first narrow-gauge railway in Mongolia. Work on the
200-km railroad from Ukhaa Khudag mine to Gashuun Sukhait, was to start last
autumn, with financial assistance from The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and technical cooperation from Deutsche Bahn.

A new railway is a
must if Mongolia is to export large amounts of its natural resources, but a
consensus on where to build it and under which specifications is proving
elusive. Some MPs give their opinions on the subject.

Ts.Batbayar: 80
percent of our imports come from China. Any businessman will choose the
cheapest  way to bring his goods. The
narrow gauge will be more suited to our needs. It will be 10 times more  efficient, economically speaking .

S.Oyun: The narrow
gauge is more attractive on economic grounds, but I would say it is better for
Mongolia to have both kinds. 

D.Gankhuyag: The
choice of rail gauge is linked to our possible export markets. As of now we
have only one buyer – China – for our minerals, coal, cashmere and everything,
New broad-gauge routes to Russia will help open a new market and maybe will get
us more competitive prices for our exports. 

R.Rash:  It will be better to build narrow traaks
since Tavantolgoi and other mines are closer to China and we can connect with
Japan and Korea.

D.Terbishdagva: 90 percent
of international trade uses the narrower tracks. Thus I think it would be
better to choose this for Mongolia. There can be some broad tracks  depending on the region, but the national
policy must be dispassionate.