China Railway K3/4

Last updated
K3/4
Board of K3-4 (20160525112435).jpg
The destination board of the K3/4 train.
Overview
Service typeLong-haul international rail service
StatusSuspended due to COVID-19 pandemics [1]
Locale Russia, Mongolia, and China
First service4 June 1959
Current operator(s) China Railway
Former operator(s) Soviet Railways (4 June 1959 – 24 May 1960) [2]
Route
Termini Beijing, China
Moscow, Russia
Stops33
Distance travelled7826 km
Average journey time131 hours 31 minutes (K3), 129 hours 50 minutes (K4) [3]
Service frequencyWeekly
Train number(s)K3/4 (Within China)
003/004 (Within Mongolia)
003З/004З (Within Russia)
Line(s) used Trans-Siberian Railway, Trans-Mongolian Railway, Ji'er Railway  [ zh ], and Jingbao Railway
On-board services
Class(es) Hard sleeper, luxury Soft sleeper
Sleeping arrangements6 berth sleepers and 2 berth sleepers
Catering facilitiesRestaurant car
Technical
Rolling stock China Railway Type 18  [ zh ] and 19  [ zh ]
Track gauge 1520 mm and 1435mm (with break of gauge)

The China Railway K3/4 train was a weekly international K-series train from Beijing to Moscow via Ulaanbaatar mainly using the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian railways.

Contents

The train started running in 1959, covering a distance of 7826 km, and is the 4th longest passenger train service in the world. The Beijing to Moscow train (K3/003/003З) departs every Wednesday from Beijing station and takes 131 hours and 31 minutes to arrive at Moscow Yaroslavsky station, while the Moscow to Beijing train (K4/004/004З) departs every Tuesday from Moscow and takes 129 hours and 50 minutes to arrive at Beijing. [3] [4]

History

When this train was first operated in the 1960s, most of the passengers were government officials, with there being police guarding it even in the depot, earning it the nickname "The Mystery Train of the East". During the Sino-Soviet split in the 1980s, as little as 20 passengers took the K3/4 train, although it continued to operate. [5]

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the train became mostly filled with businessmen and traders carrying their goods, which when combined with lack of policing at the time, caused a series of robberies now known as the Trans-Siberian train robberies  [ zh ]. [6]

In 2000, China initiated its third campaign to increase the speed of its railways, the K3/4 train was sped up and renumbered from 3/4 to K3/4. [7] After the 2000s, the train became mostly used by tourists instead, becoming a tourist train. [5]

In 2020, this train service has suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic through the three countries. [1]

Train composition

The train is mostly made up of China Railway train cars, painted in green as was common in communist countries of the time. There is no air conditioning in the train, as it uses coal for heating, requiring on average 4-5 tons of coal for each staff member on the train. [8]

As China uses 1435mm standard gauge rail track, while Russia and Mongolia use 1520 mm broad gauge track, there is a break of gauge at the Chinese-Mongolian border, where the train stops for around three hours at Erenhot, where passengers first go through Chinese immigration procedures, then the entire train is lifted up, then the train's bogies are swapped out for new bogies of the corresponding gauge. Passengers remain in the train while this procedure is conducted. [8]

The train is composed of thirteen carriages in China, with nine international carriages, composed of five hard sleepers, three luxury  [ zh ] soft sleepers and a baggage car, as well as three domestic hard sleeper carriages and a domestic restaurant car. Other domestic restaurant cars and sleeper carriages are also attached upon entering Mongolia and Russia.

Timetable

K3/003/003ЗStation004З/004/K4
TrainDayArr.Dep.Arr.Dep.DayTrain
K3Day 1 (Wed)07:27 Beijing 14:35Day 7 (Mon)K4
K3Day 1 (Wed)10:4610:55 Zhangjiakou 11:0111:13Day 7 (Mon)K4
K3Day 1 (Wed)15:2715:43 Jiningnan 06:3706:55Day 7 (Mon)K4
K3Day 1 (Wed)18:0318:05 Zhurihe  [ zh ]04:0704:09Day 7 (Mon)K4
K3/003Day 1 (Wed)20:1800:59 Erlian  [ zh ]21:0002:00Day 6 (Sun)004/K4
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China (CST) / Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia (ULAT)
003Day 2 (Thu)01:2502:40 Zamyn-Üüd  [ ru ]18:5020:35Day 6 (Sun)004
003Day 2 (Thu)06:1506:50 Sainshand  [ uk ]14:4915:20Day 6 (Sun)004
003Day 2 (Thu)10:1310:30 Choir  [ uk ]11:2211:37Day 6 (Sun)004
003Day 2 (Thu)14:3515:22 Ulaanbaatar 06:5007:30Day 6 (Sun)004
003Day 2 (Thu)17:5918:14 Züünkharaa  [ uk ]03:4003:55Day 6 (Sun)004
003Day 2 (Thu)19:5420:24 Darkhan I  [ uk ]01:4101:54Day 6 (Sun)004
003/003ЗDay 2 (Thu)21:5023:29 Sükhbaatar  [ ru ]22:2900:14Day 5 (Sat)004З/004
Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia (ULAT) / Flag of Russia.svg  Russia (MSK)
003ЗDay 2 (Thu)19:1421:04 Naushki  [ ru ]14:5716:47Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 2 (Thu)21:5222:00 Dzhida  [ ru ]14:1114:12Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 2 (Thu)22:3022:36 Selenduma  [ ru ]Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)01:3401:49 Medvedchikovo  [ ru ]Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)02:2803:13 Ulan-Ude 09:5810:43Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)08:0408:09 Slyudyanka I  [ ru ]05:3305:35Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)10:1310:47 Irkutsk–Passazhirsky 02:4303:06Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)11:0111:03 Irkutsk–Sortirovochny  [ ru ]02:2702:29Day 5 (Sat)003З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)11:4011:42 Angarsk  [ ru ]01:5301:55Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)12:0612:08 Usolye-Sibirskoye  [ ru ]01:2801:30Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)13:0013:02 Cheremkhovo 00:3700:39Day 5 (Sat)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)14:4815:10 Zima  [ ru ]22:3122:53Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)17:0317:05 Tulun  [ ru ]20:3420:36Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)18:4218:55 Nizhneudinsk  [ ru ]18:4518:58Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)21:2821:30 Tayshet 16:1016:12Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 3 (Fri)23:2923:51 Ilanskaya 13:5114:13Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)00:2100:23 Kansk–Yeniseysky  [ ru ]13:1813:20Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)03:5804:19 Krasnoyarsk 09:1709:38Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)07:0707:09 Achinsk I  [ ru ]06:2306:25Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)08:0808:09 Bogotol  [ ru ]05:2605:27Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)09:5310:27 Mariinsk  [ ru ]03:1203:46Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)12:2312:25 Tayga  [ ru ]01:0001:03Day 4 (Fri)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)13:2613:28 Yurga I  [ ru ]23:5723:59Day 3 (Thu)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)15:3915:57 Novosibirsk 21:2821:46Day 3 (Thu)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)19:1819:48 Barabinsk  [ ru ]17:4618:16Day 3 (Thu)004З
003ЗDay 4 (Sat)23:2923:45 Omsk–Passazhirsky 13:4414:00Day 3 (Thu)004З
003ЗDay 5 (Sun)02:5003:05 Ishim  [ ru ]10:1910:34Day 3 (Thu)004З
003ЗDay 5 (Sun)06:3406:55 Tyumen 06:1506:35Day 3 (Thu)004З
003ЗDay 5 (Sun)11:3612:04 Yekaterinburg–Passazhirsky 01:1201:40Day 3 (Thu)004З
003ЗDay 5 (Sun)17:2817:48 Perm II 19:4220:02Day 2 (Wed)004З
003ЗDay 5 (Sun)21:2121:47 Balezino  [ ru ]15:5216:18Day 2 (Wed)004З
003ЗDay 6 (Mon)01:0001:15 Kirov 11:5512:10Day 2 (Wed)004З
003ЗDay 6 (Mon)05:4405:46 Semyonov 06:3906:41Day 2 (Wed)004З
003ЗDay 6 (Mon)06:4807:00 Nizhny Novgorod 05:3705:49Day 2 (Wed)004З
003ЗDay 6 (Mon)10:3611:06 Vladimir  [ ru ]02:2602:52Day 2 (Wed)004З
003ЗDay 6 (Mon)13:58 Moscow–Yaroslavsky 23:45Day 1 (Tue)004З

Pop culture

The 2018 Chinese crime television series Operation Moscow  [ zh ] and other, older films were based on the Trans-Siberian train robberies that happened on this train in the early 1990s.

The 2020 Chinese comedy film Lost in Russia portrays the protagonist and his mother taking the K3/4 train to Moscow.

Ticketing

The train is priced using Chinese yuan when sold in China, although ticket scalpers may resell the train tickets at much higher prices. Prices to major stations from Beijing: [3]

Station NameLuxury Soft SleeperHard Sleeper
Ulaanbaatar 20411310
Irkutsk 33612139
Novosibirsk 44702799
Moscow 60803793

Notes

  1. Since Russia has multiple time zones, this table will use Moscow Time.

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