Kazakhstan plans 5,000 km of new rail lines over next four yearsKazakhstan plans to construct an additional 5,000 kilometers of railway lines over the next four years, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said.“In the next four years, we plan to build another 5,000 kilometers of new railways. Our goal is to increase transit volumes to 100 million tonnes per year by 2035,” Bektenov said at a conference of railway chief executives from the Organization for Cooperation of Railways.He said about $35 billion has been invested in Kazakhstan’s transport sector over the past 15 years, during which more than 2,500 kilometers of railways have been built.Bektenov noted that around 85% of land transit shipments along the Western Europe–Western China corridor pass through Kazakhstan.He highlighted development priorities including the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor, where Kazakhstan aims to increase cargo volumes to 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) annually by 2029 and cut transit times from 18 days to 10.Work is continuing on the North–South corridor, which provides access to markets in the Persian Gulf and India.Bektenov also emphasized digitalization efforts in the sector, pointing to the TezCustoms system, which has reduced border clearance time with China from eight hours to 30 minutes. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX