Uzbekistan has joined the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor, the press service of the national railway company of Kazakhstan reports.
According to the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the Tashkent’s connection to the transport integration project was discussed by representatives of the railway administrations of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, China, Iran and Uzbekistan at a meeting in Almaty on Thursday. The parties approved the participation of the Uzbek side in container transportation along the route, and agreed on the comprehensive tariff rates.
Total length of the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway route is about 10 thousand kilometers, and it is a part of the North-South international transport corridor. The link is the first logistics solution for speedy cargo flow from the east of China to the Persian Gulf markets, significantly shortening the distance and reducing the delivery duration to about two weeks, compared to 25-30 days by sea. The accession of Uzbekistan to the project is expected to further reduce the distance and increase the freight turnover in the region.
According to the press service of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the volume of traffic along the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridor amounted up to one thousand TFC in 2018.
Based on the needs of suppliers and carriers, Turkmenistan provides two railway routes from Serhetyaka railway station on the border with Kazakhstan – to Serakhs crossing point on the Turkmen-Iranian border in Akhal province and to Akyayla railway station on the Turkmen-Iranian border in Balkan province.
The creation of this transport and transit corridor gained momentum after the construction of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran international railway. It was opened in December 2014 with the participation of the presidents of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Iran.
