ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 12. Rail freight between Kazakhstan and the EU in 2023 saw a 25-percent boost, with road transportation also up by 14 percent, said Vice Minister of Transport of Kazakhstan Maksat Kaliakparov, Trend reports.
He made the remark as he attended the meeting of the Kazakh-Finnish Intergovernmental Commission.
As such, in 2023, rail freight between Kazakhstan and the EU increased to 4.3 million tons, while road freight volume during this period hit 7.3 million tons.
"In 2022, a total of 2,204 TEUs carrying various consolidated cargoes traversed Kazakhstan's territory on the China-Finland-China route. Import shipments through the Black Sea to Kazakhstan from diverse European countries were conducted in 2023 along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). Specifically, in 2023, 506 TEUs of consolidated cargo were transported along the TITR," he said.
TITR, or the so-called Middle Corridor, is a transportation and trade route that connects Asia and Europe, passing through several countries in the region. It is an alternative route to the traditional Northern Corridor and Southern Corridor.
The route starts in China and crosses Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It then passes through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye before reaching Europe.
The Middle Corridor offers a land route that connects the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe, bypassing the longer maritime routes.
