Mongolian Railways
State railway company (MTZ)
MTZ, the Mongolian Railway State Owned Shareholding Company, was established on 20 March 2008 under Resolution No. 82 of the Government of Mongolia and a decision of the State Property Committee, to set up a national railway company and to build and own railway infrastructure, carry railway transportation, and manufacture and maintain infrastructure and rolling stock (The Worldfolio, company profile of Mongolian Railway).
MTZ is a distinct, 100 percent government-owned company, established in 2008 to develop a competitive railway market in Mongolia and to lead railway investments financed by the government and by foreign loans and grants. It is not Ulaanbaatar Railway, the older Mongolian-Russian joint venture that operates the trans-Mongolian line (ADB / CAREC, Railway Sector Assessment for Mongolia, 21 May 2021).
PEOPLE
KHKh.Kherlen
Executive director of Mongolian Railway - newly appointed executive director interviewed by The UB Post in October 2016; he said he started work on 7 October and had previously worked at the State Property Committee and other government agencies
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Borkhüügiin Delgersaikhan
Minister of Roads and Transport - in a Mining Insight interview he described Mongolian Railways operating the Tavan Tolgoi-Gashuunsukhait railway under a lease agreement and financing part of the Bagakhangai-Khushig Valley railway through its own efforts
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Khaltmaagiin Battulga
Minister of Roads, Transportation, Construction and Urban Development in 2009 - he signed the 15 October 2009 accord with Russian Railways on survey and design of a new railway to open up the South Gobi mineral deposits, a project in which Mongolian Railway (MTZ) was to hold a stake (Railway Gazette International, 16 October 2009)
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Purevsambuu Batsaikhan
Chief executive - the board announced his appointment as CEO of Mongolian Railway on 21 March 2014 (The Worldfolio, company profile); interviewed as former CEO by Oxford Business Group for Mongolia 2015
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MONEY
The Zuunbayan Railway stake - DOCUMENTED
Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC owns 66 percent of Zuunbayan Railway LLC, and the remaining 34 percent is owned by Mongolian Railway SOE. Under Government Resolution No. 117, Mongolian Railway's licence to implement construction of the core infrastructure was annulled and transferred to Zuunbayan Railway LLC for a three-year duration (Mining Insight, The next major obstacle along new railroads).
Bogdkhan / Bagakhangai financing - REPORTED
Construction of the Bagakhangai-Khushig Valley railway, the restarted Bogd Khan Railway project, officially commenced on 25 April 2025 with operation planned in 2027. The Minister of Roads and Transport said Mongolian Railways has been financing part of the project through its own efforts, that 82 kilometres of basic infrastructure had been completed by 62 domestic companies, and that the line is planned to carry 3.5 million tonnes in its first year, rising to up to 20 million tonnes a year (Mining Insight, interview with Minister B. Delgersaikhan).
RECORD
Government policy on new lines - DOCUMENTED
Under the concept of developing the national railway network, Mongolian Railway SOE was established in 2008, and the government has held a policy to transfer the rights and ownership of new railway projects to MTZ and, in doing so, give them under state ownership (Mining Insight, The next major obstacle along new railroads).
Early operations - 2016
Executive director Kh. Kherlen told The UB Post that the company opened a 33.4 kilometre railway from an iron ore mine in Khuder soum to Yuruu soum in Selenge Province in May 2016, had transported over 600,000 tons of iron ore on it, and was targeting a million tons more before the end of the year (The UB Post, October 2016).
Operating Tavan Tolgoi-Gashuunsukhait - 2025
Under a resolution of the Government of Mongolia, the infrastructure and rolling stock of the Tavan Tolgoi-Gashuunsukhait railway are being operated under a lease agreement by Mongolian Railways. Under a long-term coal transportation agreement between Mongolian Railways and China Energy Coking Coal, transportation began on 24 June 2025, and 4 million tonnes of coal were transported in the following seven months (Mining Insight, interview with Minister B. Delgersaikhan).
A filled seal is documented. An open seal is an allegation, source named.
How to read this page. Every line names its source. A line marked ALLEGATION is a claim already published by the named source and already in the public record. Decode Mongolia republishes it as reported, with the source named, and has not verified it. An allegation is not a finding, and nothing on this page is proof of wrongdoing.