Asian Highway Network

The AH project was initiated by the United Nations in 1959 with the aim of promoting the development of international road transport in the region. During the first phase of the project (1960–1970) considerable progress was achieved, however, progress slowed down when financial assistance was suspended in 1975.

ESCAP has conducted several projects in cooperation with AH member countries step by step after the endorsement of ALTID in 1992.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network (IGA) was adopted on November 18, 2003, by the Intergovernmental Meeting; the IGA includes Annex I, which identifies 55 AH routes among 32 member countries totalling approximately 140,000 km (87,500 miles), and Annex II "Classification and Design Standards". During the 60th session of the ESCAP Commission at Shanghai, China, in April 2004, the IGA treaty was signed by 23 countries. By 2013, 29 countries had ratified the agreement.[2]

The advanced highway network would provide for greater trade and social interactions between Asian countries, including personal contacts, project capitalizations, connections of major container terminals with transportation points, and promotion of tourism via the new roadways.[1]

According to Om Prakash, "It's an excellent step taken by ESCAP to gather all the Asian countries under one crown but the problem with this project is political disputes between some countries, notably Pakistan and Myanmar, which is delaying the project".[1]

Route AH1 is proposed to extend from Tokyo to the border with Bulgaria west of Istanbul and Edirne, passing through both Koreas, China and other countries in Southeast, Central and South Asia. The corridor is expected to improve trade links between East Asian countries, India and Russia. To complete the route, existing roads will be upgraded and new roads constructed to link the network. US$25 billion has been spent or committed as of 2007, with additional US$18 billion needed for upgrades and improvements to 26,000 km of highway.[3]

The project new highway route numbers begin with "AH", standing for "Asian Highway", followed by one, two or three digits.[4] Single-digit route numbers from 1 to 9 are assigned to major Asian Highway routes which cross more than one subregion.[4] Two- and three-digit route numbers are assigned to indicate the routes within subregions, including those connecting to neighbouring subregions, and self-contained highway routes within the participating countries.[4] Route numbers are printed in the Latin script and Hindu-Arabic numerals and may simply be added to existing signage, like the E-road network.[4]

The actual design of the signs has not been standardized, only that the letters and digits are in white or black, but the color, shape and size of the sign being completely flexible. Most examples feature a blue rectangular shield with a white inscription (similar to German Autobahn signage) with further examples of white on green and black on white rectangular shields.[1][4][5]

What is believed to be the first car crossing of the full extent (East to West) of the new Asian Highway was achieved by Britons Richard Meredith and Phil Colley in 2007 driving an Aston Martin.

Following the AH1 and the AH5 from Tokyo (the Highway grid's furthest point East) to Istanbul (furthest West), they drove a total of 12089 km (7512 miles) before joining the European motorway network for another 3259 km (2025 miles) to London.

Including ferry trips and customs clearance delays, the journey took 49 days and crossed 18 countries.

The completed route was verified by Aston Martin[6] and the UN's Asian Commission (UNESCAP) in Bangkok, whose director of transport and tourism Barry Cable confirmed "I can warrant that, to my best knowledge, this was the first car to undertake this journey".[7][8]

Eurowatch in London provided independent corroboration by tracking the car's location from satellite position reports and plotting the vehicle's location throughout the journey.[9][10]

Meredith, a travel author and veteran of distance-driving events, agreed to make the attempt after attending the Asian Highway Treaty's "coming into force" ceremony in Bangkok on July 4, 2005.

He was lent an Aston Martin V8 Vantage which had previously been the personal transport of the company's chief executive Dr Ulrich Bez and recruited Phil Colley, a linguist and travel expert from Kennington, South London, to be his co-driver. The car was shipped out to Tokyo by the company and they set off on June 25.[11]

Although the trip was facilitated by UNESCAP through its member nations, there were still extensive problems[12] including enforced detours and interminable customs clearance delays in China, pot-holed roads in Kazakhstan and leaded-only fuel in Uzbekistan. In Tbilisi, Georgia, the journey car crashed after being left on a hillside with its handbrake unsecured.

When the record-setting car returned[13][14] a welcome-home reception was staged by Aston Martin at the Park Lane Hotel in London and Meredith later received a civic award from his home town of Milton Keynes.[15][16][17]

The car was sold at auction in December 2007 by Bonhams[18][19] and the proceeds donated to UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. In March 2008 a total collection of €83,000 was presented to UNICEF China for a campaign to reduce child deaths on the roads of Beijing.[20]

The planned network runs a total of 140,479 kilometres (87,290 mi).

Country	Distance in km (mi)
Afghanistan	4,247 km (2,639 mi)
Armenia	958 km (595 mi)
Azerbaijan	1,442 km (896 mi)
Bangladesh	1,804 km (1,121 mi)
Bhutan	1 km (0.62 mi)
Cambodia	1,339 km (832 mi)
China	25,579 km (15,894 mi)
North Korea	1,320 km (820 mi)
Georgia	1,154 km (717 mi)
Hong Kong	91 km (57 mi)
India	27,987 km (17,390 mi)
Indonesia	3,989 km (2,479 mi)
Iran	11,152 km (6,930 mi)
Japan	1,200 km (750 mi)
Kazakhstan	13,189 km (8,195 mi)
Kyrgyzstan	1,695 km (1,053 mi)
Laos	2,297 km (1,427 mi)
Malaysia	4,006 km (2,489 mi)
Mongolia	4,286 km (2,663 mi)
Myanmar	3,003 km (1,866 mi)
Nepal	1,321 km (821 mi)
Pakistan	5,377 km (3,341 mi)
Philippines	3,517 km (2,185 mi)
South Korea	907 km (564 mi)
Russia	16,869 km (10,482 mi)
Singapore	19 km (12 mi)
Sri Lanka	650 km (400 mi)
Tajikistan	1,925 km (1,196 mi)
Thailand	5,112 km (3,176 mi)
Turkey	5,254 km (3,265 mi)
Turkmenistan	2,204 km (1,370 mi)
Uzbekistan	2,966 km (1,843 mi)
Vietnam	2,678 km (1,664 mi)

• Other intercontinental highway systems: International E-road network, Arab Mashreq International Road Network and Trans-African Highway network
• Trans-Asian Railway
• Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel
• One Belt, One Road
• Eurasian Land Bridge
• Hippie trail

• The project homepage
• Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network
• Asia signs up to 'new Silk Road' BBC News report (April 26, 2004)
• UNESCAP press release announcing treaty
• 2003 Asian Highway Handbook
• Pakistan's Gwadar to Afghanistan, China road declared Asian Highway
• Driven Together, Historic first crossing of Asia's new Highway to the West
• Asian Highway Network Details