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The shortest route from Mongolia to a sea port is the Tianjin ~ Mongolia Transportation Corridor. Major industrial and commercial cities in Mongolia are located along this line. The corridor runs from Tianjin in China to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, via Beijing. The distance from the sea port of Tianjin to Ulaanbaatar is about 1,700km.
In addition, going north from Ulaanbaatar and crossing into Russia, the corridor links up with the Siberian Land Bridge (SLB) at Ulan Ude. As well as being the most important international transportation route for the landlocked country of Mongolia, the Tianjin ~ Mongolia Transportation Corridor is also used for transit transportation between Europe and Asia via the SLB.
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Railways
Mongolia's rail network consists of the main line running from north to south and seven branch lines that connect to this, as well as a spur in the northeastern region leading to the Trans-Siberian Railway. In Mongolia, where the development of roads is lagging behind somewhat, 95.6% (as of 1998, on a ton-km basis) of freight transportation relied on rail transport. The main cargo transported on domestic railways is coal, which accounts for 78% of total freight transported.
The international passenger train linking Beijing, Ulaanbaatar and Moscow also uses this route, making one round trip each week. There is one freight train mostly per week from Tianjin to Mongolia. This mixed load train consists of both container cars and ordinary freight cars.
As China's railway uses standard gauge rails, as opposed to Mongolia and Russia's wide gauge rails, freight transportation by rail between Mongolia and China requires transshipment, and in the case of passenger trains, the change of platform cars is required.
Roads
There is little cross-border road freight transportation in the Tianjin ~ Mongolia Corridor. The majority of main roads on the Mongolian side are unpaved. Under the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)'s Asian Highway Project, the road running parallel to the North-South Railway (from Altanblag on the Russian border to Zamyn Uud on the Chinese border) has been positioned as Mongolia's top priority route. This route is 1,021km long.
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