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19. June 2022

New railroad line circles the Taklamakan Desert

The track extends over 2,700 km and there are 22 stations, with six of them offering cargo services. The link connects the Chinese train network in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with the Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan loop, which is currently under construction. Once completed, the transport market is offered another rail option stretching from China to Europe, running across Central Asia, and avoiding Russian territory.

Courtesy: South China Morning Post
Courtesy: South China Morning Post

It has taken exactly 3.5 years, from the fixing of the first track until today’s completion of the entire loop. The fact that the Taklamakan is a widely uninhabited, undulating desert, with no need to build bridges to cross any rivers or circumvent large settlements, only made the work easier at first glance. The far greater challenge for the route planners and engineers was the sandstorms. Often blowing unpredictably, they can turn hundreds of track kilometers into a dunescape in no time, completely impassable by any train. Certainly, a high-risk factor for regular operations, and difficult to avoid. This relates particularly to the southern edge of the desert where 65% of the route leads through the storm zone.

Outmaneuvering sandstorms
The designers’ solution: To protect the railway line from damage caused by sandstorms and prevent operational disruptions, they opted to elevate sections of the tracks by setting them on pillars, this way allowing the free passage of sand. In addition, 50 million square meters of grass grids have been laid, and 13 million shrub and tree seedlings have been planted, stretching nearly 300 kilometers along the tracks, covering the section most exposed to sandstorms, the railway company stated in a release.


The new line connects to three existing desert railways, enabling trains to pass through five prefecture-level regions in Xinjiang, enhancing logistics opportunities and offering travel options. Now, minerals extracted in the Xinjiang region, but also cotton, walnuts, dates, and other local produce harvested there can be more easily brought to market.

Over long distances the tracks have been elevated to minimize the sandstorm risks – courtesy: CSRG
Over long distances the tracks have been elevated to minimize the sandstorm risks – courtesy: CSRG

The trains serve many purposes
In addition to the economic benefits, however, the Beijing regime sees further advantages enabled by the new Taklamakan rail loop, which leads through a region mainly inhabited by Uyghurs and Muslim minorities. This is indicated in a statement published by the China State Railway Group: “The new rail line will play a crucial role in boosting ethnic unity, strengthening national defense.”
A statement that must sound like a threat to most Uyghurs. Thousands of them are locked up in camps and subjected to the worst harassment by their state guards, including torture, the raping of women and their forced sterilization.

Heiner Siegmund


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Comments: 1
  • #1

    Louise Barnes (Thursday, 24 November 2022 07:41)

    I am so glad to see that grass grids are helping to stop the damage of the wind blowing strongy. I hope the 13 million tree and shrub seedlings are planted within the grass grids to protect them. Is drip irrigation used to water the grass, trees, and shrubs?

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