The FINANCIAL — Georgian Railway director general Mamuka Bakhtadze has appraised the arrival of the Chinese transit train to Georgia as a historical fact.
“This is an important and historical event. We have worked on the project implementation for two years along with completion of many technological and logistics projects. We have successfully finished all these projects.
We have transported the cargo through the Silk Road corridor for the firs time. The starting point is in South Korea. The corridor crosses China, Kazakhstan, Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia and ends in Istanbul, Turkey”, Mamuka Bakhtadze noted.
DHL and Vestel companies are among the clients of the transit train from China. This fact signifies the world’s major companies are interested in our corridor”, Mamuka Bakhtadze noted.
“Our route’s efficiency strengthens four times compared to the traditional seaborne route and it ensures considerable insurance of the cargo owners”, the Railway director general noted.
As reported, the first transit train (with 21 containers) was off from Chinese seaport of Lianyungang terminal on November 29 and it arrived in Georgia on December 13, while the train will reach the final destination in three days. The cargo transportation was carried out as part of the NOMAD Express project.
The train has crossed China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and will arrive in Turkey.
This is the first transit cargo train and a really implemented the Silk Road project. In the future, the transit train will connect Asia with Europe in the shortest period. The cargo from the Chinas’ far eastern point of Lianyungang seaport will reach Istanbul in 14-15 days, while seaborne transport used to take 40-45 days.
In 2013 by the initiative of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan railway companies a tariff committee was established with the aim to enhance the TransCaspian corridor’s competitive capacity.
Later Aktau, Baku and Batumi seaports joined the new logistics project – TransCaspian International Transport Route on basis of the committee. Transparent tariffs were set on various consignments as part of this union and this has considerably decreased and simplified the transportation in our corridor.
In 2015 the participant countries established the consortium that united Mishgeng Logistics transportation company (China), КТЖ экспресс (Kazakhstan), Caspar Caspian Sea Maritime Company and Karavan Logistics (Azerbaijan), TransCaucasus Terminal (Georgia). Turkey has joined the consortium as an associated member.
It is worth noting at the end of 2015 another transit train will arrive in Georgia, while several thousand of containers will be transported as part of the project starting 2016. Georgia’s transit potential will double. In the future no average two block trains will arrive in the country.
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