China Railway K3/4
The China Railway K3/4 train is a weekly international K-series train from Beijing to Moscow via Ulaanbaatar mainly using the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian railways.
.jpg.webp) The destination board of the K3/4 train. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Long-haul international rail service |
| Status | Suspended due to COVID-19 pandemics[1] |
| Locale | Russia, Mongolia, and China |
| First service | 4 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 |
| Stops | 33 |
| Distance travelled | 7826 km |
| Average journey time | 131 hours 31 minutes (K3), 129 hours 50 minutes (K4)[3] |
| Service frequency | Weekly |
| 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, and Jingbao Railway |
| On-board services | |
| Class(es) | Hard sleeper, luxury Soft sleeper |
| Sleeping arrangements | 6 berth sleepers and 2 berth sleepers |
| Catering facilities | Restaurant car |
| Technical | |
| Rolling stock | China Railway Type 18 and 19 |
| Track gauge | 1520 mm and 1435mm (with break of gauge) |
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.[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]
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 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
- There is no time difference between China and Mongolia. The time difference between Moscow and China/Mongolia is 5 hours.[note 1]
- Names in Russian and Mongolian are romanized according to Wikipedia:Romanization of Russian and Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Mongolian).
| 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 | 04:07 | 04:09 | Day 7 (Mon) | K4 |
| K3/003 | Day 1 (Wed) | 20:18 | 00:59 | Erlian | 21:00 | 02:00 | Day 6 (Sun) | 004/K4 |
↑  China (CST) /  Mongolia (ULAT) ↓ | ||||||||
| 003 | Day 2 (Thu) | 01:25 | 02:40 | Zamyn-Üüd | 18:50 | 20:35 | Day 6 (Sun) | 004 |
| 003 | Day 2 (Thu) | 06:15 | 06:50 | Sainshand | 14:49 | 15:20 | Day 6 (Sun) | 004 |
| 003 | Day 2 (Thu) | 10:13 | 10:30 | Choir | 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 | 03:40 | 03:55 | Day 6 (Sun) | 004 |
| 003 | Day 2 (Thu) | 19:54 | 20:24 | Darkhan I | 01:41 | 01:54 | Day 6 (Sun) | 004 |
| 003/003З | Day 2 (Thu) | 21:50 | 23:29 | Sükhbaatar | 22:29 | 00:14 | Day 5 (Sat) | 004З/004 |
↑ Mongolia (ULAT) /  Russia (MSK) ↓ | ||||||||
| 003З | Day 2 (Thu) | 19:14 | 21:04 | Naushki | 14:57 | 16:47 | Day 5 (Sat) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 2 (Thu) | 21:52 | 22:00 | Dzhida | 14:11 | 14:12 | Day 5 (Sat) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 2 (Thu) | 22:30 | 22:36 | Selenduma | ↑ | ↑ | Day 5 (Sat) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 3 (Fri) | 01:34 | 01:49 | Medvedchikovo | ↑ | ↑ | 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 | 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 | 02:27 | 02:29 | Day 5 (Sat) | 003З |
| 003З | Day 3 (Fri) | 11:40 | 11:42 | Angarsk | 01:53 | 01:55 | Day 5 (Sat) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 3 (Fri) | 12:06 | 12:08 | Usolye-Sibirskoye | 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 | 22:31 | 22:53 | Day 4 (Fri) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 3 (Fri) | 17:03 | 17:05 | Tulun | 20:34 | 20:36 | Day 4 (Fri) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 3 (Fri) | 18:42 | 18:55 | Nizhneudinsk | 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 | 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 | 06:23 | 06:25 | Day 4 (Fri) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 4 (Sat) | 08:08 | 08:09 | Bogotol | 05:26 | 05:27 | Day 4 (Fri) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 4 (Sat) | 09:53 | 10:27 | Mariinsk | 03:12 | 03:46 | Day 4 (Fri) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 4 (Sat) | 12:23 | 12:25 | Tayga | 01:00 | 01:03 | Day 4 (Fri) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 4 (Sat) | 13:26 | 13:28 | Yurga I | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 02:26 | 02:52 | Day 2 (Wed) | 004З |
| 003З | Day 6 (Mon) | 13:58 | — | Moscow–Yaroslavsky | — | 23:45 | Day 1 (Tue) | 004З |
Pop culture
The 2018 Chinese crime television series Operation Moscow 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 Name | Luxury Soft Sleeper | Hard Sleeper |
|---|---|---|
| Ulaanbaatar | 2041 | 1310 |
| Irkutsk | 3361 | 2139 |
| Novosibirsk | 4470 | 2799 |
| Moscow | 6080 | 3793 |
Notes
- Since Russia has multiple time zones, this table will use Moscow Time.
References
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "Train K3 - Timetable and Prices". China International Travel Service. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "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.
- "Police 'smash' bandit attacks on Trans-Siberian railway". South China Morning Post. 21 July 1993. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "快速列车新旧车次对照表<一>". sohu.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- "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.