Trans-Caspian International Transport Route

Last updated
Logo of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route Middle Corridor Logo.svg
Logo of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route
Map of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route Middle Corridor Route.svg
Map of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route

The Middle Corridor, also called TITR (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), is a trade route from Southeast Asia and China to Europe via Kazakhstan, Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey (optional). [1] It is an alternative to the Northern Corridor to the north through Russia, and the Ocean Route to the south, via the Suez Canal. Geographically, the Middle Corridor is the shortest route between Western China and Europe. [2] It is undergoing major developments in parts, with the Trans-Kazakhstan railroad completed in 2014 and the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway operational in 2017. [3]

In 2022, the Middle Corridor's cargo doubled to 1.5 million tons, while the Northern Route's shipping volume declined by 34%. However, obstacles to the further use of the Middle Corridor include the limited capacities of seaports and railways, the absence of a unified tariff structure and single operator, and the alignment of geopolitics along the route. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Transport in Turkmenistan includes roadways, railways, airways, seaways, and waterways, as well as oil-, gas-, and water pipelines. Road-, rail-, and waterway transport fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline</span> Oil pipeline

The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is a 1,768 kilometres (1,099 mi) long crude oil pipeline from the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, via Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. It is the second-longest oil pipeline in the former Soviet Union, after the Druzhba pipeline. The first oil that was pumped from the Baku end of the pipeline reached Ceyhan on 28 May 2006.

The Trans-Asian Railway(TAR) is a project to create an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia. The project is of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian Land Bridge</span> Rail route between East Asia and Europe

The Eurasian Land Bridge, sometimes called the New Silk Road, is the rail transport route for moving freight and passengers overland between Pacific seaports in the Russian Far East and China and seaports in Europe. The route, a transcontinental railroad and rail land bridge, currently comprises the Trans-Siberian Railway, which runs through Russia and is sometimes called the Northern East-West Corridor, and the New Eurasian Land Bridge or Second Eurasian Continental Bridge, running through China and Kazakhstan. As of November 2007, about one percent of the $600 billion in goods shipped from Asia to Europe each year were delivered by inland transport routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic Republic of Iran Railways</span> State-owned rail company

The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways is the national state-owned railway system of Iran. The Raja Passenger Train Company is an associate of the IR, and manages its passenger trains. The Railway Transportation Company is an associate of the IR, which manages its freight transport. The Ministry of Roads & Urban Development is the state agency that oversees the IRIR. Some 33 million tonnes of goods and 29 million passengers are transported annually by the rail transportation network, accounting for 9 percent and 11 percent of all transportation in Iran, respectively (2011).

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, also National Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, is the national railway company of Kazakhstan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline</span> Proposed subsea pipeline

The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline is a proposed subsea pipeline between Türkmenbaşy in Turkmenistan, and Baku in Azerbaijan. According to some proposals it would also include a connection between the Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan, the Sangachal Terminal in Baku, and Türkmenbaşy. The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline project would transport natural gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to European Union member countries, circumventing both Russia and Iran. It would do this by feeding the Southern Gas Corridor. This project attracts significant interest since it would connect vast Turkmen gas resources to major consumers Turkey and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian Steppe</span> Steppe ecoregion of grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Mongolia and Manchuria, with one major exclave, the Pannonian steppe, located mostly in Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–Turkmenistan relations</span> Bilateral relations

Iran and Turkmenistan share a common border of more than 1000 km. Since Turkmenistan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the two countries have enjoyed good relations and have cooperated in economic, transportation, infrastructure development, and energy sectors. The two nations have strong historic ties.

Energy in Kazakhstan describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Kazakhstan and the politics of Kazakhstan related to energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caspian Sea</span> Worlds largest inland body of water, located in Eurasia

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake and sometimes referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia, south of the fertile plains of Southern Russia in Eastern Europe, and north of the mountainous Iranian Plateau. It covers a surface area of 371,000 km2 (143,000 sq mi), an area approximately equal to that of Japan, with a volume of 78,200 km3 (19,000 cu mi). It has a salinity of approximately 1.2%, about a third of the salinity of average seawater. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran–Kazakhstan relations</span> Bilateral relations

Iran–Kazakh relations are the foreign relations and diplomatic ties between Iran and Kazakhstan.

The New Eurasian Land Bridge, also called the Second or New Eurasian Continental Bridge, is the southern counterpart to the Eurasian Land Bridge and runs through China and Central Asia with possible plans for expansion into South and West Asia. The Eurasian Land Bridge system is important as an overland rail link between China and Europe, with transit between the two via Central Asia and Russia. In the light of the Russia-Ukraine war, China halted further investments in the part of the bridge that was planned to go through Russia. After the war began, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route began to actively develop, which passes through the countries of Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and the countries of the South Caucasus, bypassing Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International North–South Transport Corridor</span> Freight corridor, Moscow to Mumbai

The International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation via ship, rail and road. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc. Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014, the first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali. The objective of the study was to identify and address key bottlenecks. The results showed transport costs were reduced by "$2,500 per 15 tons of cargo". Other routes under consideration include via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azerbaijan Railways</span> National railway company of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Railways is the national state-owned rail transport operator in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The 2,918 km (1,813 mi), 1,520 mm gauge network is electrified at 3 kV (3,000 V) DC. The headquarters of the Azerbaijan Railways is in the capital Baku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transport in Turkmenistan</span>

Turkmenistan has 4,980 kilometres (3,090 mi) of railways. The railway operator is the state owned company Türkmendemirýollary. The company belongs to the Ministry of Railways of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan is currently expanding its rail system to cover 5,256.25 kilometres (3,266.08 mi) more distance, which will take its network to 10,236.25 kilometres (6,360.51 mi) track kilometres by 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Railways Agency of Turkmenistan</span> Turkmen government agency

The Railways Agency of Turkmenistan (Turkmen: "Türkmendemirýollary" agentligi, previously the Ministry of Railways, is a government agency in Turkmenistan responsible for oversight of the state rail corporation "Demirýollary" AGPJ.

The Ashgabat Agreement is a multimodal transport agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Oman for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. The agreement came into force in April 2016. Ashgabat in Turkmenistan is the depository state for the agreement.

The Yiwu–London railway line is a freight railway route from Yiwu, China, to London, United Kingdom, covering a distance of roughly 12,000 km. This makes it the second longest railway freight route in the world after the Yiwu–Madrid railway line, which spans 12,874 km. It is one of several long-distance freight railway routes from China to Europe on the "New Eurasian Land Bridge" and part of establishing a modern-day Silk Road. The route was opened on 1 January 2017, making London the 15th European city to have a railway route connection with China, and takes 18 days to complete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lapis Lazuli corridor</span> International transit route

Lapis Lazuli is an international transit route opened in 2018 linking Afghanistan to Turkey via Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

References

  1. Kenderdine, Tristan (2021-05-27). Middle Corridor—Policy Development and Trade Potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. Asian Development Bank.
  2. Ziomecki, Mariusz (2022-08-29). "Central Asia's Middle Corridor gains traction at Russia's expense". GIS Reports. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  3. "Russia's War on Ukraine and the Rise of the Middle Corridor as a Third Vector of Eurasian Connectivity". Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) (in German). doi:10.18449/2022c64/ . Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  4. Jafarova, Nigar (2023-05-25). "The rise of the Middle Corridor". FrontierView. Retrieved 2023-09-12.