Savant Attaché

"A straight line is not the shortest distance between two points."

― Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time

President of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran inaugurate 'Uzen-Bereket-Gorgan'

4 DECEMBER 2014 BNEWS.KZ

ASTANA -- President Nursultan Nazarbayev, together with the presidents of Turkmenistan and Iran took part in the opening ceremony of the railway line "Uzen-Bereket-Gorgan", the press service of Ak Orda reports.

In his remarks during a joint statement Nursultan Nazarbayev congratulated the head of Turkmenistan - Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Iran - Hassan Rouhani with the completion of the railway.

"Together with the President of Turkmenistan, we solemnly entered the Kazakh section last year. Now, this highway connects the three countries,"- said the President of Kazakhstan.  Read More

Pakistan set to build economic corridor

6 DECEMBER 2014 NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW SATOSHI IWAKI

ISLAMABAD -- China will finance and build transportation and energy infrastructure in Pakistan through a massive project Beijing hopes will help bolster its presence in the Middle East.

.. The economic corridor will run about 3,000km from Gwadar, a port city in southwest Pakistan, to the northwestern Chinese city of Kashgar... The first phase involves development at Gwadar Port, strategically located on the Arabian Sea coast, and the construction of an international airport. It will be carried out by 2017, with Chinese companies expected to participate. The Karakoram Highway connecting the two countries will also be widened, while the rail network between Karachi in southern Pakistan and Peshawar in the north will be upgraded. The two countries also plan a fiber-optic communications link between them.

.. China hopes to secure a gateway to the Middle East. It plans to build oil storage facilities and a refinery at Gwadar Port, with oil transported to its Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region via road and pipeline.  Read More

Kawasaki Heavy to test new, weigh-cutting equipment in US

6 DECEMBER 2014 NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW

TOKYO -- Kawasaki Heavy Industries will begin test runs of a rolling-stock bogie made with carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) in the U.S. in 2015, with the aim of developing the overseas market for such equipment.

A bogie connects a rail car's chassis to the wheels and is involved in critical functions such as running and stopping. The new bogie uses CFRP in place of steel, reducing the weight by 450kg. Since each car typically uses two bogies, the car's total weight is cut by 900kg.

.. Many railroad companies order lighter cars when buying new ones to lower their operating costs. Reducing rail car weight through conventional means, such as making sheet metal thinner, is nearing its limits, but replacing the bogies and other peripherals with lighter models holds considerable promise. Read More