Greater East Asia Railroad (大東亜縦貫鉄道, Daitōa Jūkan Tetsudō) was an idea for a railroad linking Japan with the Asian mainland and Europe, formulated in 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War leading to World War II. Part of the plan included a tunnel or bridge somewhat similar to the more recent Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel proposal.

Studied routes

A report published in 1942 titled 大東亜縦貫鉄道に就て (About the Greater East Asia Through Railway) presents the following routes as proposals:

  • Daiichi through rail corridor (第1縦貫鉄道群), Connecting Tokyo and Syonan-to
  1. Tokyo  Shimonoseki  Pusan  Fengtian (present day Shenyang)  Tianjin  Beijing  Hankou  Hengyang  Guilin  Liuzhou  Nanning  Trấn Nam Quan  Xóm Cục  Thakhek  Kumphawapi  Bangkok  Padang Besar  Syonan-to (present day Singapore)
  2. A separate line to 1. that splits from Tianjin for Nanjing
  3. Sea route linking Nagasaki to Shanghai that merges to 1.
  • Daini through rail corridor (第2縦貫鉄道群), Branch line of Daiichi through railway
  1. Bangkok  Ban Pong  Thanbyuzayat  Rangoon (present day Yangon)  Kyangin  Chittagong (Partially completed as the military use Thai-Burma Railway)
  2. Changsha  Changde  Kunming  Lashio  Mandalay  Chittagong
  • Daisan through rail corridor (第3縦貫鉄道群), Connection between Japan and its ally Germany
  1. Tokyo  Shimonoseki  Pusan  Fengtian  Harbin  Manzhouli  Irkutsk  Moscow  Berlin (utilizes the Siberian Railway)
  2. Tokyo  (Kobe or Moji)  Tianjin  Zhangjiakou  Baotou  Suzhou  Anxi  Hami  Kashgar  Kabul  Baghdad  Istanbul  Berlin (Trans-Central Asia Railway Project)
  3. Tokyo  (Nagasaki)  Shanghai  Kunming  Rangoon  Calcutta (present day Kolkata)  Peshawar  Kabul  Baghdad  Istanbul  Berlin

See also

References

    • 前間孝則、講談社文庫 (1998). 亜細亜新幹線-幻の東京發北京行き超特急 (in Japanese). Tokyo. ISBN 978-4-06-263702-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    • Tetsudō Shiryō Kenkyūkai (2003). 象は汽車に乗れるか (in Japanese). Tokyo: JTB. ISBN 978-4-533-04737-4.


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