China Rail Link to be Accelerated
China Rail Link to be Accelerated
Kazakstan is set to become an attractive overland route for Chinese exports once the two neighbouring states connect up their rail networks, and this may happen sooner rather than later.
On March 19, Prime Minister Karim Masimov called for faster progress on building a junction at the Korgas border which will link Kazakstan’s railway network with that of China. The work was originally scheduled for completion in 2009, but Masimov wants the connection working on both sides of the border as soon as next year.
The Chinese stretch of the rail link is intended to be able to carry 10 million tons of cargo a year, although in the first few years the route will only support freight traffic of somewhere over five million tons annually.
Kazakstan plans to finish a feasibility study on the project by June this year, and is looking at three possible onward routes from Korgas – via Saryozek, Kulantebe or Jetigen.
Providing a rail link from China to Russia and Eastern Europe will make Kazakstan an increasingly attractive transit route.
“The launch… will give Kazakstan the edge over Europe, Iran, the Far East, other Central Asian countries and the Caucasus in the competition for transit freight,” said political scientist Oleg Sidorov.
At the moment, trains travelling between China and Kazakstan stop at the Druzhba-Alashankou terminal, where the freight has to be transferred because of the difference in track width. Ultimately, the trans-Kazakstan rail corridor will be converted to the same standard-gauge track as Europe and China, rather than the wide gauge used in the former Soviet Union.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On March 19, Prime Minister Karim Masimov called for faster progress on building a junction at the Korgas border which will link Kazakstan’s railway network with that of China. The work was originally scheduled for completion in 2009, but Masimov wants the connection working on both sides of the border as soon as next year.
The Chinese stretch of the rail link is intended to be able to carry 10 million tons of cargo a year, although in the first few years the route will only support freight traffic of somewhere over five million tons annually.
Kazakstan plans to finish a feasibility study on the project by June this year, and is looking at three possible onward routes from Korgas – via Saryozek, Kulantebe or Jetigen.
Providing a rail link from China to Russia and Eastern Europe will make Kazakstan an increasingly attractive transit route.
“The launch… will give Kazakstan the edge over Europe, Iran, the Far East, other Central Asian countries and the Caucasus in the competition for transit freight,” said political scientist Oleg Sidorov.
At the moment, trains travelling between China and Kazakstan stop at the Druzhba-Alashankou terminal, where the freight has to be transferred because of the difference in track width. Ultimately, the trans-Kazakstan rail corridor will be converted to the same standard-gauge track as Europe and China, rather than the wide gauge used in the former Soviet Union.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
