First Uzbekistan-Europe Container Train Passes Through Turkmenistan

Uzbekistan on Friday sent for the first time a container train to Europe via Trans-Caspian International Middle East-West Corridor (Middle Corridor), which also passed through Turkmenistan, the state-owned Uzbekistan Railways announced on Monday.

This freight train will deliver 46 wagons and 91 units of 20-feet containers loaded with copper concentrate of Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine to the Bulgarian port Burgas.

The container train will move along the route Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Bulgaria/Europe with a length of more than 4,000 km.

The transportation of the train was organized by Uzbekistan Railways in cooperation with partners from Turkmenistan - Transport and Logistics Center of Turkmenistan (TULM), Azerbaijan - ADY Container LLC and Georgia - GR Logistics and Terminals, according to the statement.

The Middle Corridor was created to bring goods from Central Asia to Europe. It runs from the China-Kazakhstan border through Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and on to Europe. Railroad and sea transport are involved in transportation.  The total length of the entire route is 11 thousand kilometers. It began functioning in 2017.