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North-South Transnational Corridor Linking Iran to Kazakstan Takes Shape
24 January 2014
(EIRNS)—After extending an invitation on Jan. 22 to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to pay an official visit to his country, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov told a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers that the construction of a railway within the North-South Transnational Corridor Project will be completed this fall, and the construction of a North-South highway should be completed in October. The project is being implemented with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.
The North-South Transnational Corridor is a 677-km-long railway line connecting the Central Asian countries of Kazakstan and Turkmenistan with Iran and the Persian Gulf. It will link Uzen in Kazakstan with Gyzylgaya-Bereket-Etrek in Turkmenistan, and end at Gorgan in Iran’s Golestan province. In Iran, the railway will be linked to the national network, making its way to the ports of the Persian Gulf. Kazak and Turkmen Presidents Nursultan Nazarbayev and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in the opening ceremony of the Bolashak-Serhetyaka transborder rail section last May, reported Trend. The Bolashak-Serhetyaka section is the shortest railway link between the two countries. In May 2013 the project for merging the railroads on the Kazakh-Turkmen border was launched. Currently, work is underway at the Iranian and Turkmen sites. This regional project will provide access for European and Asian countries to Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. The rail line will complement existing road transport and, on completion, will be the shortest route between Europe and Central Asia, shortening the distance by 600 km, and allowing transportation of five million tons of freight a year, which is expected to rise to 12 million tons. Turkmenistan has significant potential for transporting bulk goods such as oil and gas, mineral resources, agricultural products, and textiles, and the rail link will serve as a key link connecting the neighboring countries. Currently all the imports and exports are transported by road across the borders. During a state visit to Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, in June 2013, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey was ready to join the Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakstan transport corridor. "Joining the North-South transport corridor is important for us too," Gul said. [RMA] |
