Each nation plans its network; the spines join them.
Where high-speed or main-line rail already exists — China, Japan, Korea, the China–Laos line — MMC corridors follow it, upgrading the line or running above it on viaduct, and add freight and services to the same structure.
Routes are indicative. Corridors are drawn city to city, through the cities on the existing railway wherever a line exists: MMC corridors follow those lines, upgrading the line or running above it on viaduct. Where no line exists, the corridor is new build. Final alignments are set at detailed design by terrain survey, geotechnical analysis, environmental and cultural heritage assessment, and agreement between the nations they connect.
| Nation | Corridors | Straight-line km | Built km (×1.2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 15 | 25,400 | 30,400 |
| Mongolia | 1 | 900 | 1,000 |
| China | 21 | 21,300 | 25,500 |
| Taiwan | 1 | 300 | 400 |
| South Korea | 2 | 500 | 700 |
| North Korea | 1 | 300 | 400 |
| Japan | 3 | 2,200 | 2,700 |
| Vietnam | 2 | 1,800 | 2,100 |
| Laos | 1 | 400 | 400 |
| Cambodia | 1 | 500 | 600 |
| Thailand | 5 | 2,600 | 3,100 |
| Malaysia | 2 | 900 | 1,100 |
| Indonesia | 3 | 2,200 | 2,600 |
| Philippines | 2 | 800 | 900 |
| East and South-East Asia | 60 | 60,000 | 72,000 |
Cross-border links are counted separately. Built km = straight-line km × 1.2 (stated assumption).
The spines — high-speed maglev trunk lines
- Asian Spine: Bering Strait crossing – Anadyr – Magadan – Yakutsk – Neryungri – Tynda – Khabarovsk – Ussuriysk – Harbin – Beijing – Wuhan – Guangzhou – Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City – Phnom Penh – Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – Singapore. About 14,100 km straight-line (16,900 km built).
- Pacific Rim Line: Khabarovsk – Sakhalin – Hokkaido – Tokyo – Osaka – Fukuoka – Korea Strait crossing – Busan – Seoul – Pyongyang – Shenyang. About 4,600 km straight-line (5,500 km built).
The Asian Spine meets the Pacific Spine of the Americas at the Bering Strait: one line from Santiago to Singapore, about 31,100 km straight-line (37,300 km built). Water crossings are by seabed shell, laid in a trench or tethered where the water is deep, with the method for each set at detailed planning: the Bering, Tatar, La Pérouse, Korea, Taiwan, Malacca and Sunda straits. Corridors follow existing railway alignments wherever a line exists. Where no line exists, the corridor is new build: the Bering line beyond Yakutsk, Sakhalin to the mainland, Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, most of Sumatra, Rakhine and the Myanmar border sections, Nakhon Sawan to Mae Sot, Kashgar to the Khunjerab Pass, and northern Luzon. Manila joins Taiwan by a future crossing of the Luzon Strait, the target as technology allows (about 250 km wide, mean depth about 2,200 m).
Nation pages
China · Japan · Korean Peninsula · Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia · Russia · Thailand · Vietnam