Russia completes railway section of cross-border bridge to China

Construction works on the long-anticipated cross-border railway bridge linking Russia and China across the Amur River have been completed, with the Russian and Chinese sections of the tracks now connected.

Installation of the last section of rails was completed, China’s Central Television reports.

The 2,209-meter (1.4 mile) structure links Russia’s Far East with China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province. The railway bridge is expected to bring bilateral trade between Russia and China to new highs.

Construction was launched in 2016, after nearly three decades of negotiations. The overall length of the new artery and the associated infrastructure totals 19.9km (12.4 miles). Nearly 6.5km (4.1 miles) of the bridge and road junctions run in China, and the remaining 13.5km (8.4 miles) are located in Russia.

According to the governor of the Autonomous Region, Rostislav Goldstein, the first trial trains are scheduled to pass over the bridge in August 2021. The highway section of the bridge over the Amur River was completed in 2019, making the route between the nations roughly 3,500km (2,175 miles) shorter than before.