The largest land port between China and Russia has undergone a crucial change. Recently, the 1435mm gauge of the post Baikal railway station in Russia has been upgraded and officially put into use. The train length has been changed from 71 to 85, and the port throughput capacity has been further improved.

A quasi track line blocked 60% of freight transportation

Houbaijiaer is only 9 kilometers away from Manzhouli and is the first stop for Chinese trains entering Russia. The gauge difference is 85 millimeters - the Chinese standard gauge is 1435 millimeters, and the Russian wide gauge is 1520 millimeters. All cross-border goods must be reloaded here.

Normal replacement takes 2 to 3 days. But during the peak season, it is not uncommon for trains to be crowded for 10 or even 15 days.

The data is more intuitive. In the first quarter of 2026, the port will accommodate 1287 China Europe freight trains, a year-on-year increase of 48.4%; 131000 TEUs of containers, an increase of 43.2%; The total weight of the goods is about 10.5 million tons, an increase of 35.7%. This port carries 65% of the total land freight volume between China and Russia, and the flow is increasing, but the digestion capacity has not kept up.

This renovation involves laying over 1.8 kilometers of track panels, installing 8 sets of turnouts, 22 kilometers of signal cables, 14 sets of signal machines, and synchronous construction of four tracks. Simply put, the platform has been extended and the ability to receive trains has improved, but the fundamental contradiction - that there is only one standard track - has not been resolved.

Changing from a single lane to a double lane

The bigger game has already come to an end.

On February 19, 2026, the Russian government officially approved the draft agreement on the joint construction of the second cross-border standard gauge railway between China and Russia through Order No. 303-r. The new line directly adopts the 1435mm standard gauge, which is completely unified with the Chinese railway network. Chinese freight cars can directly pass through Russian ports without changing equipment.

This is the fundamental solution. Previously, a quasi rail line was like a single lane, with heavy vehicles entering and empty vehicles returning alternately, and the station was often blocked up. After the completion of the second line, it will operate separately, with heavy vehicles running on one route and empty vehicles running on the other, without interfering with each other.

Clear goal: By 2030, the cargo throughput of the post Baikal port will reach 39 million tons, with nearly 49 pairs of trains passing through daily. At present, the transportation efficiency of the China Europe freight train passing through Manzhouli has been improved by nearly 10%, and the fastest customs clearance time has been reduced to within 30 minutes. After the landing of the second line of the standard track, the transportation time from the eastern coast to Moscow is expected to be further reduced. Keywords: interconnectivity, China Europe freight trains

A gauge difference has stuck the China Europe freight train for decades. Nowadays, from renovation to new construction, from single track to double track, Baikal is turning bottlenecks into channels.Editor/Cheng Liting