The New Eurasia Land Bridge, which would run from China's Port of Lianyungang to Druzhba in Kazakhstan, would join existing rail links to Europe, although a spokesman for Kazakhstan Railway Co. Ltd. didn't give details during a recent fund-raising pitch in Hong Kong.

Like the current Eurasia Land Bridge, it would slash times and costs of moving goods to and from the Far East. The existing line runs from Lianyungang in China's Shandong province across the country to Xinjiang and then joins Russia's Trans-Siberian to Rotterdam.

Railway cargo moving across the Alashankou/Xinjiang border totaled 7.5 million tons in 2003. Trade volume between China and Kazakhstan has doubled since 2001 to over $3 billion last year, according to government data.

The planned railway, with capacity of 40 million tons a year, would cover 1,800 miles of Kazakh territory and cost an estimated $3.5 billion when completed in 2008. Kazakhstan would hold a 25 percent share and foreign investors 75 percent.

Landlocked Kazakhstan wants to develop transportation as a means to spur economic growth. The railway is a key part of that strategy, the rail company official said.