China Russia Tongjiang Nizhneleninskoye Rail Bridge to Start Trial

Global Times reported that the Sino-Russian Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge is largely completed and will soon be ready to open for business, with the first test train expected to cross the border around August 26-28. There will be a Russian train coming over to the Chinese side as a test to see if everything is fine. The bridge will become a key infrastructure facility to boost trade between China and Russia. Most of cargoes passing through the bridge will be Russian iron ore bound for China.

The railway bridge has a dual track system, which allows trains running on both the Russia gauge at 1,520 millimeters and the Chinese gauge at 1,435 millimeters, without the need to change wheels on the bridge. Russian trains will be able to run for about 15 kilometers until they reach a depot where their cargo will be shifted to Chinese trains

The bridge will be open to traffic in 2021. It has been reported that the bridge will become fully operational in 2022.

Iron ore will be the main product carried across the bridge, which has an annual designed cargo capacity of 21 million tons, Lin said.