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China Railway K3/4

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K3/4
The destination board of the K3/4 train.
Overview
Service typeLong-haul international rail service
StatusSuspended due to COVID-19 pandemics[1]
LocaleRussia, 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
TerminiBeijing, 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) usedTrans-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 stockChina Railway Type 18 [zh] and 19 [zh]
Track gauge1520 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.

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

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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

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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

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K3/003/003З Station 004З/004/K4
Train Day Arr. Dep. Arr. Dep. Day Train
K3 Day 1 (Wed) 07:27 Beijing 14:35 Day 7 (Mon) K4
K3 Day 1 (Wed) 10:46 10:55 Zhangjiakou 11:01 11:13 Day 7 (Mon) K4
K3 Day 1 (Wed) 15:27 15:43 Jiningnan 06:37 06:55 Day 7 (Mon) K4
K3 Day 1 (Wed) 18:03 18:05 Zhurihe [zh] 04:07 04:09 Day 7 (Mon) K4
K3/003 Day 1 (Wed) 20:18 00:59 Erlian [zh] 21:00 02:00 Day 6 (Sun) 004/K4
 China (CST) /  Mongolia (ULAT)
003 Day 2 (Thu) 01:25 02:40 Zamyn-Üüd [ru] 18:50 20:35 Day 6 (Sun) 004
003 Day 2 (Thu) 06:15 06:50 Sainshand [uk] 14:49 15:20 Day 6 (Sun) 004
003 Day 2 (Thu) 10:13 10:30 Choir [uk] 11:22 11:37 Day 6 (Sun) 004
003 Day 2 (Thu) 14:35 15:22 Ulaanbaatar 06:50 07:30 Day 6 (Sun) 004
003 Day 2 (Thu) 17:59 18:14 Züünkharaa [uk] 03:40 03:55 Day 6 (Sun) 004
003 Day 2 (Thu) 19:54 20:24 Darkhan I [uk] 01:41 01:54 Day 6 (Sun) 004
003/003З Day 2 (Thu) 21:50 23:29 Sükhbaatar [ru] 22:29 00:14 Day 5 (Sat) 004З/004
 Mongolia (ULAT) /  Russia (MSK)
003З Day 2 (Thu) 19:14 21:04 Naushki [ru] 14:57 16:47 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 2 (Thu) 21:52 22:00 Dzhida [ru] 14:11 14:12 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 2 (Thu) 22:30 22:36 Selenduma [ru] Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 01:34 01:49 Medvedchikovo [ru] Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 02:28 03:13 Ulan-Ude 09:58 10:43 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 08:04 08:09 Slyudyanka I [ru] 05:33 05:35 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 10:13 10:47 Irkutsk–Passazhirsky 02:43 03:06 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 11:01 11:03 Irkutsk–Sortirovochny [ru] 02:27 02:29 Day 5 (Sat) 003З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 11:40 11:42 Angarsk [ru] 01:53 01:55 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 12:06 12:08 Usolye-Sibirskoye [ru] 01:28 01:30 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 13:00 13:02 Cheremkhovo 00:37 00:39 Day 5 (Sat) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 14:48 15:10 Zima [ru] 22:31 22:53 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 17:03 17:05 Tulun [ru] 20:34 20:36 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 18:42 18:55 Nizhneudinsk [ru] 18:45 18:58 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 21:28 21:30 Tayshet 16:10 16:12 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 3 (Fri) 23:29 23:51 Ilanskaya 13:51 14:13 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 00:21 00:23 Kansk–Yeniseysky [ru] 13:18 13:20 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 03:58 04:19 Krasnoyarsk 09:17 09:38 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 07:07 07:09 Achinsk I [ru] 06:23 06:25 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 08:08 08:09 Bogotol [ru] 05:26 05:27 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 09:53 10:27 Mariinsk [ru] 03:12 03:46 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 12:23 12:25 Tayga [ru] 01:00 01:03 Day 4 (Fri) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 13:26 13:28 Yurga I [ru] 23:57 23:59 Day 3 (Thu) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 15:39 15:57 Novosibirsk 21:28 21:46 Day 3 (Thu) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 19:18 19:48 Barabinsk [ru] 17:46 18:16 Day 3 (Thu) 004З
003З Day 4 (Sat) 23:29 23:45 Omsk–Passazhirsky 13:44 14:00 Day 3 (Thu) 004З
003З Day 5 (Sun) 02:50 03:05 Ishim [ru] 10:19 10:34 Day 3 (Thu) 004З
003З Day 5 (Sun) 06:34 06:55 Tyumen 06:15 06:35 Day 3 (Thu) 004З
003З Day 5 (Sun) 11:36 12:04 Yekaterinburg–Passazhirsky 01:12 01:40 Day 3 (Thu) 004З
003З Day 5 (Sun) 17:28 17:48 Perm II 19:42 20:02 Day 2 (Wed) 004З
003З Day 5 (Sun) 21:21 21:47 Balezino [ru] 15:52 16:18 Day 2 (Wed) 004З
003З Day 6 (Mon) 01:00 01:15 Kirov 11:55 12:10 Day 2 (Wed) 004З
003З Day 6 (Mon) 05:44 05:46 Semyonov 06:39 06:41 Day 2 (Wed) 004З
003З Day 6 (Mon) 06:48 07:00 Nizhny Novgorod 05:37 05:49 Day 2 (Wed) 004З
003З Day 6 (Mon) 10:36 11:06 Vladimir [ru] 02:26 02:52 Day 2 (Wed) 004З
003З Day 6 (Mon) 13:58 Moscow–Yaroslavsky 23:45 Day 1 (Tue) 004З

Pop culture

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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

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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 Name Luxury Soft Sleeper Hard Sleeper
Ulaanbaatar 2041 1310
Irkutsk 3361 2139
Novosibirsk 4470 2799
Moscow 6080 3793

Notes

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

References

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  1. ^ a b "北京与莫斯科间K3/4、K19/20次旅客列车暂停运营". The Paper (in Chinese). Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  2. ^ "北京至莫斯科国际联运列车5月24日开行50周年". QQ News (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "北京局集团公司国际列车基本情况". China Railways - 12306.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Train K3 - Timetable and Prices". China International Travel Service. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "神秘"东方列车"驶过中俄关系变迁". 大洋网 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Police 'smash' bandit attacks on Trans-Siberian railway". South China Morning Post. 21 July 1993. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  7. ^ "快速列车新旧车次对照表<一>". sohu.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b "北京坐火车穿越西伯利亚". 廣西新聞網 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2020.