The Rail System | Freight Forwarding | Air Service | Road Service
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The Rail System | Freight Forwarding | Air Service | Road Service |
TRANSPORTATION IN MONGOLIA |
| Infrastructure Challenges During the Soviet period, Mongolia was virtually closed
to all outside contact. Therefore, most current infrastructure was built
to Soviet designs and intended to facilitate Soviet projects in Mongolia.
Today, Mongolia struggles to cope with the increasing traffic of goods
and people. Dramatic measures are currently being planned or taken to
improve transportation infrastructure. These include development of new
roads, completion of airport upgrades, and construction of new rail lines
along with the acquisition of new train engines and passenger cars. The Mongolian Railway Administration (MRA) is the government agency responsible for managing the Mongolian Railway System, the nation’s leading means of transport. The MRA transports most imports, exports, transit cargo, coal and other mineral ores as well as a large portion of domestic and international passengers. Mongolia's main rail line extends over 660 miles from Sukhbaatar Station on the northern border with Russia, through Ulaanbaatar, to Zamiin Uud on the southern border with China. Several spur lines link important mining, industrial, or military centers to the main line. An additional branch line links the eastern city of Choibalsan to the Russian Trans-Siberian line at Borzya. The main rail line joins Russia's Trans-Siberian trunk line at Ulan Ude, providing an overland link to Russia and Europe and access to the Russian Pacific port of Vostochny/Nakhodka. Mongolia's closest link to the sea is south through the
Chinese port of Tianjin, approximately 600 miles from the Mongolian border
and 1,260 miles from Ulaanbaatar. The China route suffers from poor organization
and overload. This generally creates long delays for containers.
MONGOLIAN RAILWAY Train Station Information 2. Freight Forwarding and Shipping Companies Mongolia hosts over 20 freight forwarders and one shipping company. The four largest forwarding firms that handle rail freight within Mongolia are Mongoltrans, Tuushin, International Freight Forwarding Center, and M&M. Maersk-Sealand is the only well-known shipping company currently operating in Mongolia. These firms maintain links with foreign firms to coordinate the delivery of cargo to and from the border. Through Tianjin, China, the firms generally work with Sinotrans (China's largest freight forwarding company), Sinotrans- Inner Mongolia, the Dutch-Chinese joint venture firm CBW, Crown Pacific, Crown Worldwide, Unda, Cosco Company, or the China Railway Foreign Service Corporation. For transit trade through Russia, firms work with numerous companies, including the Russian-U.S. joint venture Trans-Siberian Express Service, Militzer and Munch, Russian Foreign Transit, Maersk-SeaLand, or South Transit. Once containers arrive in Ulaanbaatar, it is relatively easy to arrange for delivery. Both Mongoltrans and Tuushin have trucks and cranes to deliver containers. These firms generally have persons with Russian, Chinese, English and German language abilities on staff. Shipping Options Maersk Sealand Maersk Sealand is the largest container shipping line
in the world with over 325 offices in more than 100 countries. It is the
only shipping line with an office in Mongolia. Maersk offers import and
export full load services to and from all corners of the globe, through
the port of Xingang, China or through Russia. Offices in Tianjin, China
and in Moscow and St.Petersburg, Russia ensure that cargo to and from
Mongolia is quickly and efficiently cleared. The Company provides a through
service to or from its container yard in Ulaanbaatar, with through bills
of lading covering transport all the way. Freight Fowarding Mongoltrans Mongoltrans began operation as a semi-private firm in
early 1991 when it was spun off from the Mongolian Railway Administration
(MRA). Today, the firm is 36 percent owned by MRA and still uses MRA facilities. Mongoltrans Tuushin Tuushin pioneered freight forwarding in Mongolia. Founded
in 1990 by the Ministry of Trade International Freight Forwarding Center The International Freight Forwarding Center (IFFC) of
the Mongolian Railways was founded in October 1993. Since its establishment,
it has developed working relationships with freight forwarding organizations
of China, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Japan and other countries.
The Center claims representatives in Warsaw, Moscow, Ulaan-Uud, Naushki
and Erlian. Offices are located in Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, Erdenet, and
Zamiin Uud. They can deliver containers with a capacity of 20-40 tons. Other Freight Forwarding Companies Santrade Company Mongolian Railway Freight Forwarding Center Crown Freight Forwarding (shipping and warehousing) Rail Passenger Service Domestic Air Service Air is an important means of passenger travel within Mongolia. The country has 21 airports; most runways are a single dirt landing strip. Only eight airports have paved runways. Mongolian Peoples Air Transport (MIAT), the state owned national airline, has a near monopoly on domestic scheduled flights in Mongolia. MIAT’s fleet consists largely of Russian Antonov passenger planes. It also has one Boeing plane and one Airbus in its fleet. Private charter service is available including a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter. The government plans to privatize MIAT. MIAT has scheduled service to its 21 provincial capitals.
However, it is not unusual for flights to be canceled or delayed without
warning, leaving travelers stranded. Outgoing flights from Ulaanbaatar
can be guaranteed from the MIAT office, but travelers should reconfirm
UB-return flights with the local MIAT agent. The general caveat: prepare
alternate domestic travel International Air Service Ulaanbaatar's Buyant Ukha airport is Mongolia's only
international airport. High elevation, short runway, and lack of maintenance
facilities limit Ulaanbaatar’s capacity. An Asian Development Bank feasibility
study recommended upgrading existing airport facilities in the short run
and building a new international airport in the future. In 1997 a British/German
joint venture completed work on the air terminal, runway and cargo terminal.
Mongolia currently has four international air carriers providing service
to Ulaanbaatar: MIAT, Air China, Korean Airlines, and Aeroflot. These
carriers provide regular service to Beijing and Hohot, China, Seoul, Korea,
Osaka and Toky, Japan, Irkutsk and Moscow, Russia, and Berlin and Frankfurt,
Germany. Travelers can arrange special charter flights from other parts
of Asia or Europe. All airlines flying into Ulaanbaatar offer limited
international airfreight services on their regular AIRLINES Aeroflot (Russian) Air China MIAT Korean Airlines Ulaanbaatar Airport
Trucking Services Car Rentals |