Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport, Marat Karabayev, announced plans to establish a unified transportation operator involving Russia and Turkmenistan, Sputnik Kazakhstan reports.
The initiative aims to increase the route's capacity and expand freight volumes to 20 million tons per year.
"The majority of goods are formed in Russia and are destined for transportation to the countries of the Persian Gulf. The total capacity of the route is 10 million tons per year. To further enhance the route's potential, a roadmap for the synchronized development of the corridor with Russia, Turkmenistan, and Iran has been approved," Karabayev stated.
He emphasized the importance of the North-South corridor for Kazakhstan, highlighting its immense potential given changes in global logistics systems. Plans include modernizing junction stations and increasing throughput capacity from 23 to 33 trains per day as outlined in the roadmap, which is expected to boost freight volumes by 1.5 times.
Karabayev explained that the development of transportation routes is closely tied to the infrastructure of Kazakhstan’s seaports, such as Aktau and Kuryk. Currently, Kazakhstan's authorities are considering building a new container terminal capable of handling up to 300,000 containers annually. In Kuryk, the construction of a multifunctional terminal named "Sarzha" is already underway.
"Priority is being given to container transportation. Over the next three years, we plan to increase the container handling capacity of the Aktau port from 140,000 to 550,000 containers. For this, construction of a container hub has begun in collaboration with China's 'Lianyungang Port' company," the minister noted.
Next year, the construction of terminals is planned in several key locations: the port of Alat, the village of Selyatino near Moscow, the Swislach station in Belarus, and Tashkent. These new facilities will be capable of handling up to 1.2 million containers annually.
"A significant issue is the lack of a domestic fleet. Currently, only Azerbaijani ferries operate on the Kuryk-Alat route. At least seven ships are already urgently needed. Turkish companies YDA and ASFAT plan to build a specialized plant near the Kuryk port to address this," Karabayev explained.
It was noted that the total freight volume between East and West amounts to 216 million tons, while between North and South it is 206 million tons. Over 93% of goods are transported by sea, with 4% by rail.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 24, 2024