Uzbekistan joins China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor

Uzbekistan has joined the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor, part of the North-South international transport corridor and the first logistics solution for speedy cargo delivery from the East China coast to the markets of the Persian Gulf, significantly shortening the distance and the transport time.

According to Kazakhstan Railway, the volume of traffic along the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridor in 2018 was 1,000 TEU. The total length of the route China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran is about 10,000 km. The total travel time is about 14 days. Travel time by sea is 25-30 days.

The new China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor is direct competitor to all the Caspian Sea ports which were unable to offer the shippers a cheaper and faster sea route, mostly for goods from East China.

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200 km long multi-modal network of ship, rail, and road routes for transport of freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Baku, Astrakhan, Tehran, Bandar Abbas and Bandar Anzali. The aim of the corridor is not just to increase trade between member countries, but also to standardise tariffs and customs duties.