ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 28. The development of the Trans-Kazakhstan railway corridor, which will become a key link in the Trans-Caspian route—the Middle Corridor—must be accelerated, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at an extended government meeting today, Trend reports.
"Regarding another extremely important area—transport and logistics infrastructure—transit is our huge advantage in international competition for freight transportation. This advantage should be fully and effectively utilized.
It is necessary to accelerate the development of the Trans-Kazakhstan railway corridor, which will become a key link in the Trans-Caspian route. Some important projects in this direction are being implemented, but further work is required with a long-term perspective," he explained.
President Tokayev instructed the government to begin construction of the new railway branch "Moyynty-Kyzylzhar" and to modernize the heavily loaded sections of the highway from the Kyzylzhar station to the port of Aktau.
"It's also necessary to expand the "Altynkol-Zhetygen" section, which will significantly enhance the potential of the transport corridor between China and Central Asia. At the same time, it's important to complete the digitalization projects for railway transportation in a timely manner.
We should focus on the development of multimodal transport hubs, which allow for the integration of all types of transport. The current and next years should be breakthrough years in working in this direction," the head of state added.
To note, the Middle Corridor connects the networks of container rail freight transportation of China and the European Union through the countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Türkiye, and Eastern Europe. It facilitates increased cargo traffic from China to Türkiye, as well as to Europe and vice versa.
Multilateral, multimodal transportation infrastructure connects the Caspian and Black Sea ferry terminals with the railway systems of China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Poland.
The route train running along this corridor delivers cargo from China to Europe in an estimated 20–25 days on average, and that is one of the main advantages of this transport corridor.
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