BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 26. The capacity of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) is projected to increase from 18,000 TEUs (estimated in 2022) to 130,000 TEUs by 2040, Trend reports.
This will come to life, if the current business-as-usual scenario is maintained, the study from the EU and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said.
However, due to capacity constraints and the prioritization of transit cargo flows over bilateral trade, the growth of regional cargo volumes remains limited, the study added.
To overcome these limitations, investment projects and soft connectivity measures are proposed to achieve a free-flow transit time of 13 days. If implemented successfully, this could significantly boost the transit container volume of the so-called Middle Corridor, reaching 865,000 TEUs by 2040. Furthermore, with the anticipated increase in containerized trade in Central Asia, coupled with the aforementioned improvements, the network has the potential to handle regional container volumes of 470,000 TEUs by 2040.
By identifying and prioritizing key actions, not only would cross-continental transportation be supported, but also regional trade and economic growth in Central Asia would be facilitated, the EU and the EBRD said.
At the same time, the study added that total investment required to significantly improve the capacity of the Middle Corridor is estimated at approximately 18.5 billion euros.