Russian Railways attaches paramount importance to the further development of a strong long–term and sustainable partnership with Turkmenistan, said Sergey Pavlov, First Deputy Director General of Russian Railways (RZD), speaking at the first session of the Ashgabat Conference on International Transit and Transport Corridors.
The session was devoted to the topic “Transport and logistics interconnectedness in the global economy”.
Pavlov briefed about the current state of partnership between the Turkmen and Russian railways.
The main areas of cooperation between Turkmenistan and Russia in the railway sector are the development of transportation along the eastern branch of the North-South corridor, joint infrastructure projects and measures to develop human resources, digital transformation in railway transport.
“Modernization of the railcar repair plant in Kyzylarvat has been identified as a pilot project. The solution of this task will significantly increase the capacity of this plant,” said the representative of Russian Railways.
The creation of a regional passenger train express and the electrification of Turkmen railways are two projects that are being discussed, according to Pavlov.
“We are considering options for organizing train traffic at speeds up to 140 km/h, we are working on proposals for automating business processes, digitalizing railways,” the deputy head of Russian Railways continued.
Pavlov referenced some figures below to demonstrate the dynamics of the expansion of freight flows between Turkmenistan and Russia, as well as along the North-South route.
- Along INSTC, transportation increased by 62% compared to 2021. And in the first quarter of 2023, the freight grew by 70%.
- In the first quarter of 2023, cargo traffic between Russia and Turkmenistan increased by 73%, with 3.5 times more transit cargo handled.
- In general, container traffic along the North-South corridor has increased fivefold.
- It is important to roll out the Bolashak (Kazakhstan) – Serakhs (Turkmenistan) route. This year it is planned to transport over 1 million tons of cargo on this route.
///nCa, 3 May 2023