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Centuries ago the Orient supplied Europe with the wondrous luxuries it craved "“ jewels, silk, jade, spices "“ sending its produce along the dusty caravan route known as the Silk Road. Today, China has become the world's workshop and Europe has an insatiable appetite for its exports. Most now arrive on giant container ships. But as ports become clogged and delivery times critical, China is once again looking to the old land routes across Asia. But the new Silk Road China is planning will be made of steel. 

At both ends of the route, rail systems are being developed and modernized apace. In Europe, new high-speed corridors are spreading across the continent, with exporters taking advantage of the rebuilt infrastructure across the old Iron Curtain...