AROUND, NOT THROUGH, MAJOR CITIES.

A city produces and receives a lot of rail traffic.  It's also not the best place to sort freight cars or interchange them, which was the rationale for Canadian National acquiring Elgin Joliet & Eastern to connect all four coasts of North America without going through Chicago, and it was the hope behind the ill-conceived Great Lakes Basin railroad of a few years ago.

The same logic works in the steppes of Central Asia.  "Construction of a 127 km railway bypass to divert freight traffic including hazardous goods away from Ulaanbaatar is progressing."  The avoiding line transits the Khushig river valley between Emeelt and Bagakhangai.  I'm not sure how planned Mongolia's economy is some thirty years after their freedom from the Evil Empire: the railway will expedite the passage of trade goods between China and Siberia, and perhaps divert traffic off the roads.  "Once completed, the bypass is expected to remove up to 1 800 heavy lorries per day from Ulaanbaatar’s roads. It is initially designed to handle around 3.5 million tonnes of freight annually, with capacity potentially increasing to 20 million tonnes."  We're talking about a single track avoiding line with three passing sidings, not the double tracking of the Chicago Outer Belt that Canadian National have been undertaking.

And yet, it is refreshing to read about a railway project that is taking place and is not some hero project for fast passenger trains.