[Prospero]

Hasn't an identically gauged rail "link" (if not a single carrier and vehicle) linked Asia and Europe for almost a century or more?

How old is the Trans-Siberian railway?

I wish the story even hinted at some minor details about the route taken.

[Rebelbase]

Found another article with this:

Late last year, Kazakhstan completed construction of a 293-km (183-mile) stretch from Zhetygen to Korgas at the Chinese border, looping it in to the existing national railway network and opening the second China-Europe link across its territory.

Europe-bound trains from China cross from Kazakhstan into Russia. Then they go via Belarus and Poland before reaching Duisburg in Germany.

the annual volume of freight turnover along the new route, guaranteed by China, was set to total 2 million metric tons (2.2 million tons) this year and would rise eventually to 15 million metric tons.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-kazakhstan-railway-idUSBRE9590GH20130610