Increased attention to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as “the Middle Corridor,” as a viable alternative to Russia’s Northern Corridor has placed it in the spotlight for coordinated efforts to solve bottlenecks and other logistical issues. On November 12, on the sidelines of the 29th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP29), Azerbaijan, China, and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to establish an intermodal cargo terminal located at the Port of Alat in Baku. The project seeks to develop the port’s cargo handling capacity, ultimately aiming to increase container train traffic along the China-Europe-China corridor via the Middle Corridor, aiming to shorten delivery times, lower transportation costs, and minimize transshipment duration. Cargo and port capacity have been among the key challenges needed to overcome and unlock the route’s full potential, with the ultimate goal of shortening the average transport duration to 15 days.

The agreement to create an intermodal cargo terminal was signed by Taleh Ziyadov, Director-General of Baku International Sea Trade Port (Port of Baku); Nurlan Sauranbayev, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Railways (KTZh); and Yuan Xiaojun, CEO of Xi'an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Co., Ltd. Ruslan Alikhanov, CEO of Azerbaijan Investment Holding, and Nurlan Zhakupov, Chairman of the Board of Samruk-Kazyna JSC, were also present during the signing ceremony, demonstrating that development of the Middle Corridor is among the top priorities of both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. According to KTZh, the new terminal will include a multi-purpose cargo yard, an indoor warehouse complex spanning 5,000 square meters, and a container yard capable of holding more than 1,000 containers. 

On March 11, a train from Xian, China, arrived in Azerbaijan, having made an approximately 3,200-mile journey across Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea in the short time of 11 days. This was preceded by the opening of Kazakhstan’s terminal in Xian and the launch of the first train on the China-Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan route on February 28. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev participated online in the ceremony marking the arrival of a container train, highlighting the reduced transportation time due to the joint work of KTZh and Azerbaijan Railways. Further development of the Port of Baku’s newest intermodal cargo terminal will contribute to reducing delivery times, lower transportation costs, and reduce transshipment time.

According to Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transportation, Marat Karabayev, the volume of cargo transportation via the Middle Corridor reached 2.8 million tons by the end of 2023, up from 1.5 million tons in the previous year. Given its currently limited capacity, further infrastructure and other developments are necessary to prevent bottlenecks along the route. Improvements in cargo and port capacity, harmonization of the customs procedures, and streamlining are still needed to further optimize the effectiveness of the Middle Corridor.  Current plans call for increasing the volumes of cargo transiting the Middle Corridor to 11 million tons annually by 2030. 

Following the first meeting held between Kazakhstan and China in September of a joint working group on cargo transportation along the Middle Corridor, both sides committed to increase the volume of cargo transportation along the route to 600 container trains per year in 2025 and 2026. The number of container trains will be increased to 1,000 in 2027, and to 2,000 in 2029. Kazakhstan is now working towards increasing the transit capacity of the Aktau and Kuryk seaports, with plans to build a container hub at the port of Aktau in the near future, as well as launching a grain terminal in the port of Kuryk later this year. 

Speaking at the Caspian Policy Center’s 5^th Annual Business Forum in New York, Director-General of Port of Baku Taleh Ziyadov noted that one of the largest remaining issues is the coordination between investors and the countries along the Middle Corridor. While the countries along the route, namely China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, continue to work and coordinate together to prevent bottlenecks, investments from key outside stakeholders, such as the United States and the European Union, could provide the necessary capital, as well as the technical know-how to realize these goals. Connecting China, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus to Europe, bypassing Russia, the Middle Corridor is undergoing a historical transformation of becoming a strategic link between these regions.