Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia deliberate on optimizing Middle Corridor's potential
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia have discussed opportunities for more efficient use of the potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, also known as the Middle Corridor), Report informs, citing Azerbaijan Railways (ADY).
As part of events held in Baku by the TITR International Association, a trilateral meeting took place involving ADY Chairman Rovshan Rustamov, Georgian Railway JSC General Director David Peradze, and Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC Nurlan Sauranbayev.
The meeting focused on establishing coordinated measures for the timely delivery of container cargo from China to Europe and organizing activities of the Middle Corridor Multimodal LTD Joint Venture, created by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia, to ensure continuous, reliable, and efficient operation of international corridors.
The significance of cooperation in railway cargo transportation among the main transit countries of the Middle Corridor, and the substantial contribution of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, which has achieved an annual cargo capacity of 5 million tons, to East-West cargo transportation, was highlighted.
The parties recognized the dispatch of the first container block train from Kazakhstan's transport and logistics center, commissioned in Xi'an, China, in March of the previous year, as a success of this cooperation. In 2024, a total of 287 block trains from China to Azerbaijan and Europe were received, with plans to increase this number to 600 in 2025.
The importance of collaborative efforts to accelerate cargo flow through TITR and the potential of this cooperation to elevate the China-Central Asia-Azerbaijan route to a new global level was particularly emphasized.
The parties noted that the volume of cargo transportation could be increased through the diversification of joint activities among railway administrations for more efficient utilization of the Middle Corridor's potential.
