The route includes China's east–west railways which, in addition to the Beijiang line, are the Longhai Railway and the Lanzhou–Xinjiang Railway. Together, the railways create an uninterrupted rail link between the port city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu province and Kazakhstan. In 1995 the Chinese and Kazakhstan governments signed an agreement which allows the latter to use Lianyungang as its primary seaport for exports and imports, and the former intends for Lianyungang to serve as the designated starting point for the New Eurasian Land Bridge. From Almaty in Kazakhstan, the railway extends to Tashkent and Samarkand, Uzbekistan and then to Tejen, Turkmenistan. From Tejen, another line continues to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. After Ashgabat, the line ends at Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan, a port on the Caspian Sea. (After a direct rail link between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan opened, it became possible for the freight to bypass Uzbekistan, which has poor relations with its neighbors). In 1996 a branch railway from Tejen was constructed across the border with Iran (at Serakhs) and linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways. The link potentially enables rail freight from China to reach ports on the Persian Gulf and via other train lines, to reach into the Caucasus and Turkey. In 2016, direct container train service was inaugurated on this route, between Yiwu (Zhejiang Province) and Teheran; the trip takes 14 days. The central Asian route did not extend all the way into Europe until October 2013 when the rail link across the Bosphorus though the Marmaray link was opened. Iranian rail lines use gauge, requiring freight cars transiting from China into Iran to change wheel gauges twice. The train ferry across Lake Van is also a capacity restriction. Chinese state media claims that the New Eurasian Land/Continental Bridge extends from Lianyungang to Rotterdam, a distance of . The exact route used to connect the two cities, whether through Mongolia or Kazakhstan, however, is unclear. Iron Silk Road via Turkey An alternative way from China to Europe is via Turkey. The route from China follows Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey. Due to longer distance, insufficient service, and border crossings, this route has not regularly been used for direct transport from China to Europe. However, work is underway to improve the viability of this route, such as the Marmaray project to connect Europe and Asia via a tunnel under the Bosphorus. After the completion of the project,