An alternative to Suez in the center of the Silk Road – the KTI railway was launched 8 years ago
Eight years ago, on December 3, 2014, the opening of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran transnational railway took place. The event was held with the participation of the heads of state who implemented this unique project of global significance – President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani.
The first train was sent from Kazakhstan to Iran via Turkmenistan on the new shortest route, and the leaders of the three neighboring countries became the first passengers who had a chance to travel on the new road.
The launch of this highway, where the length of the Turkmen section was almost 80%, gave rise to such headlines in regional and international media that day, as, for example, "The center of world trade is gradually shifting to Asia."
"Perhaps for the first time Astana, Ashgabat and Tehran were able to implement such a significant economic project together, once again showing the world that the center of world trade and production is gradually shifting to Asia," popular Internet resources noted.
Leading news agencies agreed that the open railway line, as the most economical route between Asia and Europe, will undoubtedly become the "golden link" of regional and international transport infrastructure. At the same time, the fact that a fundamentally new transport corridor made the railway route from Europe to the ports of the Persian Gulf 600 kilometers shorter was not ignored.
The KTI railway has become an integral part of the North-South transport corridor (eastern route), which is an alternative, shorter and cheaper than existing routes, for example, the Suez Canal.
Of course, the media did not fail to notice that the idea of recreating the Great Silk Road, which had connected the peoples of the Eurasian continent for thousands of years, found its embodiment in the new railway.
The intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway was signed by the heads of the three states in 2007. Construction began in 2009. The total length of the steel track running from the Kazakh steppes through the Turkmen Karakum mountains to the mountainous province of Gulistan in northern Iran was 928 kilometers. 146 of them are on the territory of Kazakhstan, 700 km - Turkmenistan and 82 km - Iran. The project was implemented with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
In November 2021, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Iran signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding on railway cooperation, which provides for an increase in the loading of the railway between the three countries.
Since then, and especially in the new geopolitical realities, the importance of this path continues to increase. Due to its geographical location, Central Asia is an important link between the world's largest markets. According to the World Bank, the development of transport communications in Central Asia can ensure the growth of the gross domestic product of all countries by 15%.
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