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.[1]
Since 1991 Turkmenistan has completed a number of major national and international transportation projects.
Turkmenistan is also part of the international transport corridor created under the Ashgabat agreement, signed by India, Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, for creating an international transport and transit corridor facilitating transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.[2]
Air service began in 1927 with a route between Chardzhou (Türkmenabat) and Tashauz (Dashoguz), flying German Junkers 13 and Soviet K-4 aircraft, each capable of carrying four passengers. In 1932 an aerodrome was built in Ashgabat on the site of the current Howdan neighborhoods, for both passenger and freight service, the latter mainly to deliver supplies to sulfur mines near Derweze in the Karakum Desert.[3]
Airports serving the major cities of Ashgabat, Dashoguz, Mary, Turkmenabat, and Türkmenbaşy, which are operated by Turkmenistan's civil aviation authority, Türkmenhowaýollary, feature scheduled domestic commercial air service.[4][5] Under normal circumstances international scheduled commercial air service is limited to Ashgabat. During the COVID-19 pandemic, however, international flights take off from and land at Turkmenabat, where quarantine facilities have been established.[6][7]
Small airfields serve industrial sites near other cities, but do not feature scheduled commercial passenger service. Airfields slated for modernization and expansion include Garabogaz, Jebel, and Galaymor.[10][11][12][13][14] A new airport at Kerki was commissioned in June 2021 and is slated to begin regular domestic passenger service in January 2022.[15] The new Turkmenabat International Airport was commissioned in February 2018.[16] In 2014, Turkmenistan had an estimated 26 airports.[17] One heliport was in operation.[18]
The first rail line in Turkmenistan was built in 1880, from the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea to Mollagara. By October 1881 the line was extended to Kyzyl-Arvat (today's Gyzylarbat), by 1886 had reached Chardzhou (today's Turkmenabat). In 1887 a wooden rail bridge was built over the Amu Darya, and the line was continued to Samarkand (1888) and Tashkent (1898).[19] The rail line connecting Mary to Serhetabat was completed in 1898, and the train ferry between Kislovodsk (today's Türkmenbaşy) and Baku began operating in 1905.[20]
Rail gauge is the standard Russian- and Soviet 1520 millimeters.
The total length of railways is 3181km. Only domestic passenger service is available, except for special trains operated by tour operators.[21] The railway carries approximately 5.5 million passengers and moves nearly 24 million tons of freight per year.[22][23]
The Tejen-Sarahs-Mashhad railway, built in 1996 by Turkmenistan and Iran, has become a vital freight link of Central Asian-, Russian-, and European rail systems with South Asia and the Persian Gulf.[18][20] In 2006 the Trans-Karakum Railway, a direct link between Ashgabat and Dashoguz, halved travel time between the southern and northern borders.[18][20]
The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway link, part of the North–South Transport Corridor, is a 677km (421mi)-long railway line connecting Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with Iran and the Persian Gulf since 2014. It links Uzen in Kazakhstan with Bereket and Etrek in Turkmenistan and ends at Gorgan in Iran's Golestan province. In Iran, the railway connects to the national network, including seaports on the Persian Gulf.[24] The project cost an estimated $620 million, shared by the governments of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.[24][25] This link of the North-South Transnational Railway runs 137km in Kazakhstan, 470km in Turkmenistan and 70km in Iran. Work in Turkmenistan commenced in Bereket in December 2007 and in Kazakhstan in July 2009, and was completed in late 2014.
In February 2018, the existing rail line between Serhetabat and Torghundi in Afghanistan was restored to service.[28][29] This line is planned to be extended to Herat, where it could potentially connect to a rail line under construction from Khaf, Iran.[30]
In 2019, TRA had a rolling stock fleet of 119 diesel locomotives, 10,056 freight wagons, and 425 passenger cars. The majority of locomotives and all the passenger cars were purchased from the PRC (25 CKD9A-series passenger locomotives and 83 CKD9C-series freight locomotives). The freight wagon fleet included 2,849 tanker wagons, 1,738 gondola wagons, 1,637 platform wagons, 1,358 closed hopper wagons, 1,143 box wagons and 654 refrigerated wagons.... In 2019, 6,607 wagons (65% of the fleet) [were] at least 30 years old, with many of these wagons having exceeded their normal economic life and in need of replacement.[20]
Railway links with adjacent countries
Iran - yes, freight only - 1,520mm (4ft11+27⁄32in)/1,435mm (4ft8+1⁄2in)break-of-gauge
Prior to the 1917 Russian Revolution only three automobiles existed in Turkmenistan, all of them foreign models in Ashgabat. No automobile roads existed between settlements. After the revolution, Soviet authorities graded dirt roads to connect Mary and Kushky (Serhetabat), Tejen and Sarahs, Kyzyl-Arvat (Serdar) with Garrygala (Magtymguly) and Chekishler, i.e., with important border crossings. In 1887-1888 the Gaudan Highway (Russian: Гауданское шоссе) was built between Ashgabat and the Persian border at Gaudan Pass, and Persian authorities extended it to Mashad, allowing for easier commercial relations. Municipal bus service began in Ashgabat in 1925 with five routes, and taxicab service began in 1938 with five vehicles. The road network was extended in the 1970s with construction of republic-level highways connecting Ashgabat and Kazanjik (Bereket), Ashgabat and Bayramaly, Nebit Dag (Balkanabat) and Krasnovodsk (Türkmenbaşy), Chardzhou (Türkmenabat) and Kerki, and Mary and Kushka (Serhetabat).[31] As of 2001 Turkmenistan had an estimated 22,000 kilometers of roads, about 18,000 kilometers of which were paved.[18]
The primary west-east motor route is the M37 highway linking the Turkmenbashy International Seaport to the Farap border crossing via Ashgabat, Mary, and Turkmenabat. The primary north-south route is the Ashgabat-Dashoguz Automobile Road (Turkmen: Aşgabat-Daşoguz awtomobil ýoly), built in the 2000s. Major international routes include European route E003, European route E60, European route E121, and Asian Highway (AH) routes AH5, AH70, AH75, AH77, and AH78.[32][18]
A new toll motorway is under construction between Ashgabat and Turkmenabat by “Türkmen Awtoban” company, which was originally scheduled to construct the 600-km highway in three phases: Ashgabat-Tejen by December 2020, Tejen-Mary by December 2022 and Mary-Turkmenabat by December 2023. As a result of delays due to financial shortfalls, the Ashgabat-Tejen phase is now scheduled for completion in September 2021.[33] A sister project to link Türkmenbaşy and Ashgabat was suspended when the Turkish contractor, Polimeks, walked away from the project, reportedly because of non-payment.[34][35]
As of 29 January 2019, the Turkmen Automobile Roads state concern (Turkmen: Türkmenawtoýollary) was subordinated by presidential decree to the Ministry of Construction and Architecture, and responsibility for road construction and maintenance was shifted to provincial and municipal governments.[36][37] Operation of motor coaches (buses) and taxicabs is the responsibility of the Automobile Services Agency (Turkmen: Türkmenawtoulaglary Agentligi) of the Ministry of Industry and Communication.[38]
Turkmenistan has one of the lowest gasoline prices in the world. In 2011 95-octane gasoline was priced at $0.72 per gallon ($0.19 per liter).[39] As of March 2021, the state-controlled price was 1.50 manat per liter, or U.S. 43¢ per liter ($1.62 per gallon).[40]
The main inland waterways are the Amu Darya River, which runs along the northern border, and the Karakum Canal, which runs from east to west from the Amu Darya near the Afghanistan border through Mary and Ashgabat to Bereket.[41]
The official beginning of organized navigation on the Amu Darya occurred in 1873.[42] Steamboats began plying the Amu Darya in 1888, with reassembly and launching of a Russian-built steamboat delivered to Çärjew in pieces.[43] Navigation was hindered by the constantly shifting sandbars and islands that the river current formed and swept away.[43] In 1917 there were on the Amu Darya between 20 and 50 self-propelled vessels and about 1500 boats. In 1923 the Central Asian Turkmenabat Shipping Company began providing services to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and 10 regions of Kazakhstan, and transported loads by water across 1500 kilometers.
On August 15, 1992, the Turkmen River Shipping Company was established. In 2003, it was renamed State Concern Turkmen Riverways (Türkmenderýaýollary), but subsequently reverted to a state agency subordinate to a series of ministries. In February 2021 the production subsidiary of Türkmenderýaýollary was converted into an open joint-stock company.[44]
In the mid-20th century Soviet authorities began construction of the Karakum Canal. The first phase was approved in 1952, and construction began in 1954. By 1959 in the first phase the canal had connected the Amu Darya to the Murghab River. In 1961 the canal was extended to the Tejen River in a second phase. A third phase, to bring water to Ashgabat, was accelerated due to the 1961 drought, and water from the Amu Darya was first delivered to the capital city on May 12, 1962. Next followed construction of the Gurtly and Köpetdag Water Reservoirs, and then came the fourth phase, extension of the canal as far as Bereket, which was completed in 1981. From Bereket, water is delivered to Balkanabat, Hazar and Turkmenbashy by pipeline.[41] The 1,100-kilometer canal, designed mainly for irrigation, is navigable for 200 kilometers from the Amu Darya. The Amu Darya is navigable in Turkmenistan for about 320 kilometers downstream from the Afghanistan border to Turkmenabat.
Turkmenistan's largest seaport by far is Turkmenbashy International Seaport. The port was opened in October 1896. The Merchant Seaport Authority was founded in 1903. The port was substantially reconstructed between 2000 and 2003.[45] Passenger ferry service to the port of Baku, Azerbaijan as well as rail ferries to other ports on the Caspian Sea (Baku, Aktau) began in 1962. In recent years tanker transport of oil to the ports of Baku and Makhachkala has increased.
In May 2018 construction was completed of a major expansion of the Turkmenbashy seaport.[46][47] Cost of the project was $1.5 billion. The general contractor for the project was Gap Inşaat, a subsidiary of Çalık Holding of Turkey. The expansion added 17 million tons of annual capacity, making total throughput including previously existing facilities of over 25 million tons per year. The international ferry and passenger terminals can serve 300,000 passengers and 75,000 vehicles per year, and the container terminal is designed to handle 400,000 TEU (20-foot container equivalent) per year.[48][49][50] Turkmenbashy International Seaport includes a shipyard.[49] The port authority also oversees operations of the Kenar, Alaja, and Ekerem oil loading terminals.[51]
Smaller industrial loading terminals are located at Hazar (oil), Kiyanly (Turkmen: Gyýanly) (plastics), and Garabogaz (urea).
In 2006 Turkmenistan had eight merchant marine vessels of more than 1,000 tons displacement, of which four were cargo ships, two were oil tankers, one was for refrigerated cargo, and one was a combination ore and oil ship.[18] As of 2019 the national maritime carrier, closed joint-stock company Marine Merchant Fleet, possessed 19 ships, including 4 dry cargo vessels, 7 oil tankers, 2 Ro-Pax ferries, 3 passenger-only ferries, 2 tugboats, and one yacht.[52]
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea to the west, Iran and Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the north-east, and Kazakhstan to the north-west. It is the southernmost republic of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the loose federation created at the end of 1991 by most of the Post-Soviet states.
The economy of Turkmenistan continues to recover from the 2014 downturn in hydrocarbon prices, but remains "in the grip of its worst economic crisis since the immediate post-independence period, driven in part by low gas prices, the suspension of gas exports to Russia between 2016 and 2019...and poor harvests." Former President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow at a session of the Cabinet of Ministers on 11 March 2021, called the rate of GDP growth unsatisfactory. When discussing the 2021 government budget, he noted that 2021 would be "as difficult" a year as 2020 had been. According to the 2020 Investment Climate Statement of the US Department of State, Turkmenistan's economy depends heavily on the production and export of natural gas, oil, petrochemicals and, to a lesser degree, cotton, wheat, and textiles. The economy is still recovering from a deep recession that followed the late 2014 collapse in global energy prices. The current investment climate is considered high risk for US foreign direct investment.
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city. It is one of the six independent Turkic states. With a population over 7 million, Turkmenistan is the 35th most-populous country in Asia and has the lowest population of the Central Asian republics while being one of the most sparsely populated nations on the Asian continent.
Balkan Region is the westernmost of the five regions of Turkmenistan. Clockwise from north it borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (north); two provinces of Turkmenistan (east), Iran (south), and the Caspian Sea (west). The capital city is Balkanabat, formerly known as Nebit Dag. The region's boundaries are identical to those of the former Krasnovodsk Oblast', a Soviet-era province of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in the city of Krasnovodsk. This oblast was liquidated and restored repeatedly in the 20th century, concluding with its abolition in 1988. However, the administrative boundaries of the region were restored in 1991 when Balkan Region was established with its capital being moved to Nebit Dag which was later renamed Balkanabat.
Türkmenbaşy, formerly known as Krasnovodsk, Kyzyl-Su, and Shagadam, is a city in Balkan Province in western Turkmenistan, on the Türkmenbaşy Gulf of the Caspian Sea. It sits at an elevation of 27 metres. The population was 86,800, mostly ethnic Turkmens but also Russian, Armenian and Azeri minorities. As the terminus of the Trans-Caspian Railway and site of a major seaport on the Caspian, it is an important transportation center. The city is also the site of Turkmenistan's largest oil refining complex.
Türkmenabat, formerly Amul, Cärjew/Chardzhou, and Novy Chardzhuy, is the second-largest city in Turkmenistan and the administrative centre of Lebap Province. As of 2009, it had a population of approximately 254,000 people. From 1924 to 1927, it was also named Leninsk in honor of Vladimir Lenin.
Serhetabat is a city in Tagtabazar District, Mary Province, Turkmenistan. Serhetabat lies in the valley of the Kushk River. The population was 5,200 in 1991. It is immediately opposite Torghundi, Afghanistan, with which it is connected by a road and a 1,520 mm gauge railway.
The Trans-Caspian Railway is a railway that follows the path of the Silk Road through much of western Central Asia. It was built by the Russian Empire during its expansion into Central Asia in the 19th century. The railway was started in 1879, following the Russian victory over Khokand. Originally it served a military purpose of facilitating the Imperial Russian Army in actions against the local resistance to their rule. However, when Lord Curzon visited the railway, he remarked that he considered its significance went beyond local military control and threatened British interests in Asia.
The districts of Turkmenistan are territorial entities below the provinces of Turkmenistan. They may be counties, cities, or boroughs of cities. The heads of the districts are appointed by the President of Turkmenistan.
The list of Turkmenistan-related articles is below
Eastern Orthodoxy in Turkmenistan is a major proportion of Christianity in Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan has a Muslim majority. The Eastern Orthodox Christians are about 5% of the population.
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.
Ashgabat railway station is the main railway station in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. It was originally built in 1888, but had to be rebuilt after an earthquake in 1948. The station is operated by the Türkmendemirýollary.
Demirýollary open joint-stock company is the state-owned operator of railways in Turkmenistan. The company operates on 4,980 km (3,090 mi) of railways and maintains over 345 railway stations throughout the country. The company belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Construction and is subordinate to the Railways Agency of Turkmenistan. It is headquartered in Ashgabat. While the rail system itself belongs to the railways agency, the Turkmen Railways company owns the locomotive and railcar depots, rail stations, construction and maintenance units, communications and power supply services, and two hotels in Awaza, the Kerwen and Türkmenbaşy.
Open joint-stock company Deryayollary is a state-owned operator of waterways and river-ports in Turkmenistan. The company operates 1,013 km (629 mi) of river-ways on Amu Darya and Karakum Canal. The company belongs to the Turkmendenizderyayollary Agency. Operator based in Turkmenabat.
Turkmendenizderyayollary Agency is a state agency in Turkmenistan that owns several state companies. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and Communication of Turkmenistan. The main office is located in the city of Turkmenbashi. It is entrusted to manage state property, maintain transport security-related tasks and provide services in the field of maritime and inland waterway transport.
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.
Ymamnazar is a remote settlement in Turkmenistan's Lebap province. It is situated immediately adjacent to Turkmenistan's southern border with Afghanistan, opposite to Aqina. The nearest city in Turkmenistan is Kerki.
↑ "Международный тендер на проектирование и строительство нового аэропорта в посёлке городского типа Джебел города Балканабат" (in Russian). Нейтральный Туркменистан. 14 December 2020.
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