From China to Türkiye to Europe – the historic movement of regular freight trains started on this railway. On July 5, two tonnes of cargobuzhai departed from China's Changing and Chengdu city. Crossing the Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and Turkey, known as the Middle Corridor, is considered an alternative and effective transportation route from East Asia to Europe. The Turkish media reported this in a report on Turkish Today.
Turkey's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir's Uralooglu has called the freight train a 'milestone' in the east-west trade transport. He said the train's journey proves that Türkiye is firmly committed to forming a uninterrupted logistic connection in the middle corridor.
Beyond China, the train has already crossed about 1.5 km and entered Kazakhstan. From there it will deliver products to the European market through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and Türkiye.
Turkey's progress on the railway infrastructure
Minister Urlooglu said the Turkish National Rail Network is now fully prepared to ensure continuous communication in Europe. Since 2002, the country has built a new railway of about 1,000 km, out of which 2,225 km high-speed railway. As a result, the total length of the national railway is about 3,000 km.
International cooperation and strategic partnership
This regular train of the middle corridor was made possible by a cooperation agreement between Turkey's Pacific Eurasia and China State Railway Group, signed by the Global Transport Connectivity Forum, recently held in Istanbul.
Turkish minister said, “Our meeting in Beijing in May this year and the conference in Istanbul brought the momentum to this progress. Through this we have set up Turkey at the center of the Asia-Europe logistics chain. '
He said that there are aims to run 4,000 freight trains every year through this route. It is also a reflection of our stable and strategic role not only transport, but also in global trade.
Connecting with greater initiatives
The middle corridor is associated with the 'Development Road Project' in Turkey. It will connect the Asia-Europe corridals through the combination of transport, energy and digital infrastructure.
Minister Urlooglu said, “In the last 20 years we have invested about $ 1 billion in transport and communication infrastructure. This effort is the basis of our success today. '
