Turkmenistan has launched a test container train on the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran route. The project, which provides a fast transportation corridor between East and West, is the result of negotiations between representatives of the railway departments of China, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.
Thanks to the new route, cargo delivery between China and Iran will be reduced to 15 days. The parties have agreed on a full schedule of container trains and preferential tariff rates, and set up an expert group to develop a fixed schedule. During the test run, a train with 45 forty-foot containers loaded with auto parts departed from Xi’an, China, and traveled the route Xi’an, China – Altynkol, Kazakhstan – Bolashak, Kazakhstan – Etrek, Turkmenistan – Tehran, Iran. In the opposite direction, a train with 50 containers of gypsum powder traveled on the route Kum (Iran)—Etrek (Turkmenistan)—Bolashak (Kazakhstan)—Altynkol (Kazakhstan)—Yiwu (China).
Containers are reloaded from broad gauge to narrow gauge and back again at the Etrek railway terminal, allowing efficient cargo transportation between countries with different railway gauges.
