Rail roads

Rail construction started in the late 1930s. All trains were powered by diesel locomotives, the last steam locomotive having been consigned to the museum in the 1970s. Freight cars were of Russia and passenger cars were imported from East Germany. Major railways lines included the Ulaanbaatar rail road which connected ChoiBalsan with Ereentsav, Mongolia and Borzya Russia. Another line linked the Trans-Siberian Railway with Beijing international train serves between Moscow and Beijing pass through Mongolia once week, stopping at Ulaanbaatar, Darkhan, Sukhbaatar, an Zamyn Uud for border and customs controls. There is also a once weekly service between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar. International train services are always packed and it is necessary to took months in advance. There are luxe and standard classes in Russian trains and soft and hard in Chinese trains, the equivalent of the 1^st and 2^nd class. Mongolian local train run to Sukhbaatar, Erdenet, Baganuur, Choir and Shainshand several times a week and twice-daily commuter services link Ulaanbaatar with nearby settlement like Zuunkharaa and Nalaikh.