Freight rail traffic between China and Central Asia will be redirected through the alternative Altynkol-Khorgos border crossing. Most of the affected traffic will concern cargo between China and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and vice versa. The Alashankou border crossing is still open for trains from China to Europe and Russia, as well as trains to Kazakhstan.

The restriction of traffic is due to the fact that the Alashankou-Dostyk border crossing will be partially closed for construction work to double the throughput of the route. The traffic restrictions will come into effect on April 1. According to the Kazakh national railway company "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" (KTZh), work will be carried out on both sides of the border crossing. China is upgrading the section between Jinghe and Alashankou, while Kazakhstan will take care of the section between Dostyk and Moiynty.

“Today, the share of traffic along the Dostyk-Alashankou junction in the total volume in Central Asia does not exceed 20%,” KTZh added. The company also noted that transit through the Altynkol-Khorgos border crossing is 10-15% cheaper and 500 kilometers shorter than through Dostyk-Alashankou.

These decisions were announced at a meeting of the Organization for Cooperation between Railways (OSJD), which took place in Warsaw on 21 March.

A few days earlier, on March 24, KTZ Express JSC and Slavtrans-Service JSC signed an agreement on strategic cooperation to develop container traffic and attract additional cargo volumes.

The agreement will promote the development of multimodal accelerated transportation of agricultural goods in the market of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, China, the countries of the Caspian basin and the CIS countries; strengthening the North-South corridor.

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