Each nation plans its network; the spines join them.
Where main-line rail already exists — India’s trunk lines, Pakistan’s Karachi–Peshawar line, Kazakhstan’s north–south 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 10 | 10,800 | 13,000 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 700 | 800 |
| Pakistan | 2 | 1,900 | 2,300 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 600 | 700 |
| Myanmar | 3 | 1,800 | 2,100 |
| Kazakhstan | 5 | 4,500 | 5,400 |
| Uzbekistan | 2 | 800 | 900 |
| Turkmenistan | 2 | 800 | 900 |
| South and Central Asia | 29 | 21,700 | 26,000 |
Cross-border links are counted separately. Built km = straight-line km × 1.2 (stated assumption).
The spine — high-speed maglev trunk line
- South Asian Spine: Bangkok – Mae Sot – Yangon – Sittwe – Chittagong – Dhaka – Kolkata – Patna – Varanasi – Lucknow – Agra – Delhi – Amritsar – Lahore – Islamabad – Peshawar. About 4,400 km straight-line (5,300 km built). It joins the Asian Spine at Bangkok.
Cross-border links run to China at Ruili, Horgos and, by tunnel under the Khunjerab Pass, Tashkurgan; to Thailand at Mae Sot; and to Russia at Omsk. India and Sri Lanka are joined by a sea crossing at the Palk Strait. At Peshawar the South Asian Spine meets the Eurasian Spine to Kabul, Tehran, Istanbul and London.
Nation pages
Bangladesh, Myanmar · Central Asia and the Caucasus · India, Sri Lanka · Kazakhstan · Pakistan