[dogsgobork]

Isn't rail shipping far more expensive than, er, ships? Also, good luck getting anything from China to Europe via rail without going through either Iran (the Middle East) or Russia (not exactly on friendly terms with Europe at the moment, to put it lightly).

[ed_balls]

it's more expensive, but they are getting closer. 30+ days by ship vs 10 days by rail, insurance, inflation and other risks. It could be just 2x more expensive. For high and mid added value product it doesn't matter much.

I can imagine year 2060 when there is a magnetic rail link between Asia and Europe. Only some commodities like wheat go through Suez.

[ben_w]

I was thinking that, but on the map at least there's the possibility of Turkmenistan-Caspian-Azerbaijan.

I know almost nothing about these places, despite an Azerbaijani coworker, so this may be unrealistic for other reasons.

[bobthepanda]

Georgia has its frozen conflict with Russia and the Azeris have had recent on-and-off war with the Armenians, so it's not a great route either.