The Silk Road is opening up again and merchants are heading for a new fast lane. Soon commercial traffic will be able to circulate, carrying passengers and freight at higher speed, and challenging the sea routes. Beijing will draw closer to the West, and the West to the Middle Kingdom. Railways are preparing for a new golden age. In Geneva, UNECE is working hard to pave the way.

Geneva is often seen as a place where international norms are established, where people put plans into action, but it is also the site of less visible work in preparation and capacity building. For example, the development of a European-Asian axis is one of the projects that emerged quietly from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva. The Euro-Asian Transport Links (EATL) project is a joint undertaking between the UNECE and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Already in its second phase, it could well transform the topography of relationships between Europe and Asia. In the latest meeting of 30 experts held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 1-3 November 2010, a comparative study was presented to the EATL member states. In five out of the nine scenarios analyzed, rail transport bests the maritime transport for both cost and time. In all nine scenarios, rail transport performs better than maritime concerning the travel time. The participants had until 28 February to comment. Past this date, nobody managed to contradict or amend this study, which is due to be published in detail before the end of 2011.

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