International Railroad Discussion > Passenger trains in Mongolia

Freight is big business on the UBTZ (Ulaanbaatar Railway Co) Trans Mongolian mainline but there are a number of domestic and international passenger trains, more than in 2023 when I was last in Mongolia with the resumption of services from China. But still no through Russia - Mongolia - China trains, their main clientele were Western tourists who, for obvious reasons, aren't in evidence on the twice weekly train (TuFO) from Irkutsk.

1: On Saturday afternoon in Ulaanbaatar there are a couple of passenger trains in just over five minutes, the arrival at 15:15 of the daily service fromn Sukhbaatar, the border station with Russia...
2: And the departure of no.305 at 15:22, the SSuO service from Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk. This is much longer than the usual train, presumably the inbound service on Friday brought a large party from Irkutsk.
3: On a Sunday morning there's a service from Horhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia (China) which consists of four UBTZ cars, two China Railway cars and a baggage car, to which a number of other UBTZ cars, including a rail geometry carriage, have been added, presumably as a ferrying move back to UB. Here it is descending the Bayan Pass from Khoolt, about an hour out of Ulaanbaatar.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/25 03:08 by 86235.

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4: On Septmber 24th, deep in the Shatan Mountains no.272 Sukhbaatar to Ulaanbaatar, with a typical low season mid-week consist, behind a UBTZ M62UMM, a locomotive type seen in its hundreds across the USSR and Warsaw Pact countries.
5: The following day we were treated to a special inspection passenger train, with two office cars hauled by an M62UMM
6: No.272 calling at the Km.290 stop, it was a Friday so business was brisk with locals off to visit friends & family over the weekend. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/25 03:10 by 86235.

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7: The following day (Saturday) 272 called at Km.290 and there was no one waiting, just a solitary passenger getting off. M62UMM 014 gets a bit animated as it pulls away
8: And being a Saturday we stopped on our way back to Ulaanbaatar, at Nogoontolgoi, for no 305 to Irkutsk
9: On Sunday we spent the morning on the Khonkhor horseshoe curve, one of the first trains we saw was the overnight service from the Chinese border at Zamiin Uud behind a leased GE T33AC.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/25 03:11 by 86235.

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10: Following our Sunday morning at Khonkhor, we spent Sunday afternoon near Emeelt, to the north west of UB, where the railway climbs out of the UB basin. Sunday's 305 to Irkutsk is made up of Mongolian stock with a 2TE116UM for power
11: A couple of days later, on September 30th, an M62UMM was switching oil tanks at Arshaant, as another M62UMM leaves town on no.272 from Sukhbaatar.
12: And on Wednesday 1st October, at 06:40 the train from Irkutsk, the same stock we'd seen on Sunday arrives back in Ulaanbaatar, with half a 2TE116UM as power.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/25 03:12 by 86235.

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Really nice stuff from a region of the world most of us here on TO will never see - thanks for the efforts!

Amazing shots, Nick.  #1 almost looks like it could be the 1950s!

how do you get all these shots go to hertz and get an SUV then get on the autobahn?

dan Wrote:
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> how do you get all these shots go to hertz and get
> an SUV then get on the autobahn?


I don't think you'll find many autobahns in Mongolia :-). I spent a couple of days by myself in Ulaanbaatar, other than that I was on a Monrailpic Tour with eight other railfans, one from the UK, like me, one from Spain, one from Japan and five from the Czech Republic.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/25 15:30 by 86235.

I suppose everybody in the tour group spoke English?

Hakk

Thanks for the great show, Nick.  Gerry

chakk Wrote:
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> I suppose everybody in the tour group spoke
> English?
>
> Hakk

No, the guys from Japan and Spain had limited English and only two of the five Czechs had any English. Temuulen the tour leader speaks very good English andf is also fluent in Russian and speaks some German. it seemed to work OK but clearly interaction between group members was more limited than when I went in 2023 when all four of us spoke decent English.

GPutz Wrote:
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> Thanks for the great show, Nick.  Gerry

Thanks Gerry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/25 23:15 by 86235.

well thanks for the ride , put more pics up!, how was the food?

Beautiful stuff Nick. As always
Regards DK

DKay Wrote:
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> Beautiful stuff Nick. As always
> Regards DK


Thanks

dan Wrote:
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> well thanks for the ride , put more pics up!, how
> was the food?

You can find all my pictures here
https://nick86235.smugmug.com/Trains/2025/Mongolia-2025

The food, hmmm. I don't think anyone goes to Mongolia for the cuisine. In Ulaanbaatar there are restaurants to suit everyone, from US chains like KFC to Korean franchises, there's even a Scottish themed pub. But away from UB the food is more limited in scope, hearty meat soups & stews, mainly mutton, sometimes beef. I tended to eat the vegetables and left the meat.

McDonalds has interesting offerings in Japan, i just tried Korean fried chicken for the first time last week..  enjoyed it!  ..i am a simpleton

Great set of photos, Nick. Looks a great tour, and something very different. Chris uk.

55002 Wrote:
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> Great set of photos, Nick. Looks a great tour, and
> something very different. Chris uk.


Thanks Chris, I'd thoroughly recommend it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/25 06:40 by 86235.