Peterborough to Beijing – The Story of a Journey

Presenter: Nick Garnham

Hybrid Meeting both Physically at Shenfield Parish Hall and via Zoom

In 2019 Nick and a friend undertook an epic rail journey from Peterborough to Beijing. A journey which took around 2 weeks though with a few sightseeing side trips on the way. An Azuma and a Eurostar saw Nick ready to depart from Paris gare de l’est on a Russian train to Moscow. 3 days and 4 nights saw the train pass through Germany and Poland to the Belarus border where a gauge change occurred by the replacement of all the bogies on the train within about an hour. Belarus was crossed during the hours of darkness before the train entered Russia, finally arriving in Moscow.

After some sightseeing in Moscow, it was on to the Trans-Siberian route to Irkutsk. After some more sightseeing, Nick joined a train through to Ulaanbaatar. Of particular note on this service was the gloriously decorated Mongolian Restaurant car complete with disco ball and the coal fired water boilers providing hot water for tea making.

A few days were spent in the Mongolian capital before Nick and his companion boarded their last train operated by China State Railways. This final train offered air-conditioning though still with an (electric) hot water boiler at the end of the train for tea and instant noodles. A further gauge change occurred at the Chinese border – though this time without passengers being allowed to remain on board. Around 15 days after leaving Peterborough, our travellers finally arrived in Beijing. A couple of days visiting the main sights of Beijing and the Great Wall of China followed, bringing the trip to an end with a return home - this time by air - in a matter of hours.

This was a fascinating insight to a journey that is no longer possible. The Paris to Moscow service ceased during COVID and has never been reinstated due to EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus. Whilst there still services over the Trans-siberian these operate only within Russia. A service from Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar was introduced last year and there are services between Ulaanbaatar and Beijing. However, current geopolitics means that probably only the Ulaanbaatar to Beijing sector would be viable for a UK citizen.