ASTANA, Kazakhstan, February 12. The inaugural railway line linking Chongqing in the southwest of China to Hairatan in Afghanistan has hit the ground running, Trend reports via Kazakhstan Railways.
The train is transporting 55 containers of communication equipment produced by Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE. It will cross the Khorgos border in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and reach its destination in Hairatan, passing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The journey is expected to take 12–15 days.
The logistical assets will be allocated to enhance the infrastructural framework of Afghanistan’s indigenous communication systems.
"With the direct railway freight scheme, transportation time will be reduced by 3 to 5 days compared to road transport, and logistics costs are expected to decrease by 15-20 percent. This will enhance the security and efficiency of transportation and goods delivery," said Liu Jianfeng, a representative of ZTE.
Furthermore, as of now, more than 18,000 freight locomotives have traversed the international rail corridors linking Chongqing with Europe and Central Asia.
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