Greater East Asia Railroad

Greater East Asia Railroad (大東亜縦貫鉄道) was an idea for a railroad linking Japan with the Asian mainland and Europe, formulated in 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War leading to World War II. Part of the plan included a tunnel or bridge somewhat similar to the more recent Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel proposal.

Studied routes
A report published in 1942 titled 大東亜縦貫鉄道に就て (About the Greater East Asia Through Railway) presents the following routes as proposals:


 * Daiichi through rail corridor (第1縦貫鉄道群), Connecting Tokyo and Syonan-to
 * 1) Tokyo – Shimonoseki – Pusan – Fengtian (present day Shenyang) – Tianjin – Beijing – Hankou – Hengyang – Guilin – Liuzhou – Nanning – Trấn Nam Quan – Xóm Cục – Thakhek – Kumphawapi – Bangkok – Padang Besar – Syonan-to (present day Singapore)
 * 2) A separate line to 1. that splits from Tianjin for Nanjing
 * 3) Sea route linking Nagasaki to Shanghai that merges to 1.
 * Daini through rail corridor (第2縦貫鉄道群), Branch line of Daiichi through railway
 * 1) Bangkok – Ban Pong – Thanbyuzayat – Rangoon (present day Yangon) – Kyangin – Chittagong (Partially completed as the military use Thai-Burma Railway)
 * 2) Changsha – Changde – Kunming – Lashio – Mandalay – Chittagong
 * Daisan through rail corridor (第3縦貫鉄道群), Connection between Japan and its ally Germany
 * 1) Tokyo – Shimonoseki – Pusan – Fengtian – Harbin – Manzhouli – Irkutsk – Moscow – Berlin (utilizes the Siberian Railway)
 * 2) Tokyo – (Kobe or Moji) – Tianjin – Zhangjiakou – Baotou – Suzhou – Anxi – Hami – Kashgar – Kabul – Baghdad – Istanbul – Berlin (Trans-Central Asia Railway Project)
 * 3) Tokyo – (Nagasaki) – Shanghai – Kunming – Rangoon – Calcutta (present day Kolkata) – Peshawar – Kabul – Baghdad – Istanbul – Berlin