A three-day meeting of heads of railway departments from countries participating in the international multimodal transport corridor “Countries of the Asia-Pacific region-China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Türkiye-Europe” (CASCA+) kicked off in Ashgabat on 15 November.
Representatives from the public and private sectors of CASCA+ member countries gathered to discuss strategies for revitalizing the route.
Specific topics included implementing special tariffs for empty containers on all routes and introducing special tariffs for transporting coal, fuel oil, fertilizers, sulfur, petroleum products, cake, raw sugar, and meal to boost cargo traffic along the corridor, reported the International Information Center of Turkmenistan.
CASCA+ is a collaborative initiative spearheaded by the state railways of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan.
Currently, the route encompasses three regions: Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan), the South Caucasus (Azerbaijan and Georgia), and Anatolia (Türkiye). CASCA serves as the acronym for these regions (Central Asia, South Caucasus, and Anatolia).
The “+” sign in the route name means the openness to incorporating new potential participants.
The CASCA+ route builds upon the existing international multimodal route linking the Asia-Pacific region, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Europe, established in 2019 at a meeting of heads of state railways from these countries. Türkiye joined the project in December 2021.
Since its inception, Turkmenistan’s share of transportation along this route has reached approximately 30,000 containers, including 9,000 containers for imports, 12,000 for exports, and 9,000 for transit.
Operators aim to increase container traffic volume to 30,000 containers this year.
A key objective of the route is to establish transport connectivity between Central Asia and Europe. A milestone event in this regard was the container block train from Uzbekistan to Bulgaria, consisting of 46 wagons and 91 container units. In December 2022, the train traversed the Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Bulgaria–Europe route, spanning over 4,000 kilometers. The primary goal is to ensure that such container service regularly operate on this route. ///nCa, 16 November 2023
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