Asked if the two countries would consider a rail link at some stage, Mr Batra, who is also Chairman of the World Executive Council of Union Interntaionale de Railway said, ``They said they had not yet applied their mind to starting a rail link between India and China.''

The chairman said he has accepted an invitation to visit China. ``I would like to see the construction of the line to Tibet. Besides, they are running double-stack containers. They are also running heavy-haul (25 tonnes per axle load) goods trains. This is what we want to achieve. For the last two years, we have been running 22.9 tonnes per axle on some routes. As a result, productivity of wagons and tracks has improved.''

Asked how India would gain with the signing of the MoU, a member of the Railway Board said, ``The Chinese are aggressively expanding their infrastructure. This includes network development in construction of lines, terminals and high-speed trains.

They are putting a lot of money in infrastructure development. The train between Shanghai and Tibet is a technological marvel. They are also planning a high-speed train between Shanghai and Beijing. We can always gain from their experience.''