Uzbekistan sent a container train to Europe along the Middle Corridor for the first time
Uzbekistan sent a container train to Europe for the first time along the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), Podrobno.uz reported on Monday.
“On December 16, the first container block train departed from Uzbekistan with cargoes from the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant to the port of Burgas (Bulgaria). This freight train consists of 46 wagons and 91 units of 20-foot containers loaded with copper concentrate. The container train will move along the route Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Bulgaria/Europe with a length of more than 4000 km,” the railway department of the Republic of Uzbekistan noted.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or the Middle Corridor, running from China to Europe, which is being developed as part of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, has not yet attracted significant volumes of cargo traffic, but now its role is growing.
Thus, since the beginning of the year, the volume of traffic along this corridor has increased significantly. According to the Azerbaijan Railways, from January to March 2022, 266.3 thousand tons of cargo was transported along this route, which is 123% more than in the same period last year. Container traffic amounted to 5847 TEU, which is 19% more than in the first quarter of last year.
The Middle Corridor came to the attention of global carriers after Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, ran aground in the Suez Canal in March 2021, halting traffic on the canal for a week, resulting in an accumulation of over 100 ships with billions of dollars worth of goods. After that, many turned their attention to the Middle Corridor.
New opportunities have interested China, because with the help of this corridor, goods can be delivered along a more convenient and shorter route than through the Suez Canal. If by sea the cargo from China to Europe takes 30-40 days, then by train the delivery time is reduced to 15-25 days.
Now the countries through which the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route passes are taking steps to increase the capacity of the corridor, joining forces to make it a reliable, secure and politically independent logistics structure.
In early December, the first freight train on the route Turkey-Iran-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan arrived in Tashkent.
ORIENT news
