Tashkent Railway Station, the capital of Uzbekistan, welcomed a special guest - Rasha Abashize, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Georgian Railway Corporation. After a brief welcome ceremony, he sat around the conference table with the heads of railway companies from Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, jointly signing an agreement that will profoundly affect the logistics landscape of the Eurasian continent. The official entry of this landlocked country in Central Asia marks a new stage in the construction of the Trans Caspian Transport Corridor.

Uzbekistan's dream of 'sea outlet'

As a dual landlocked country, Uzbekistan has historically relied heavily on the railway network of its northern neighbors to access international markets. An official from the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan explicitly stated, "As a landlocked country, cooperation between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan is of crucial importance in ensuring its entry into the global market

In recent years, the relationship between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan has rapidly heated up, and the two countries have signed an alliance treaty in August 2024. Through the accelerating construction of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway, goods from China can directly enter Uzbekistan and have two sea routes: one is to cross the Caspian Sea through Aktau Port in Kazakhstan to the north, and the other is to cross the Caspian Sea through Bashi Port in Turkmenistan to the south. No matter which route you choose, you will eventually arrive at Baku Port, Azerbaijan, and then pass through the Georgian railway network to Türkiye and Europe.

Rahmetov, the first vice chairman of Uzbekistan Railway Company, revealed that the construction of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway is accelerating, and the project is expected to be completed about two years ahead of the original plan of six years. This means that as early as around 2028, this railway artery with a total length of 523 kilometers connecting Kashgar in Xinjiang, China and Andijan in Uzbekistan will be fully connected, shortening the transportation distance from China to Europe by more than 1000 kilometers.

Cracking the "Shallow Water" Dilemma in the Caspian Sea

The average depth of the Caspian Sea is only 180 meters, and the northern region is only 5 to 6 meters deep, severely restricting the passage of large cargo ships. The insufficient water depth has long constrained the transportation capacity and efficiency of the trans Caspian transport corridor.

For this reason, relevant countries are taking active actions. Kazakhstan has launched dredging projects for the waters of Kurik Port and Aktau Port, with the goal of increasing the water depth to 5 meters to ensure year-round navigation. The EU has also provided financial support, including 10.4 million euros for the modernization of Aktau Port.

At the same time, the upgrading and renovation of infrastructure along the route are being carried out simultaneously. Azerbaijan Railway Company has completed the restoration and modernization of the 184 kilometer section of the Baku Tbilisi Kars railway in Georgia, increasing the annual freight capacity of the line from 1 million tons to 5 million tons. These measures are gradually breaking through the bottleneck that restricts the development of the channel.

Moving from 'alternative options' to' primary channel '

European Commissioner Marta Coase pointed out at the recent Trans Caspian Transport Corridor Forum: "From 2022 to present, the freight volume of the intermediate corridor has increased fourfold. If the right investment is made to improve capacity and fill the gap, this number may double again by 2030

This prediction is becoming a reality. In 2023, China officially announced its participation in the construction of the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor. In November 2025, the second China Europe freight train international cooperation forum was held in Xi'an, resulting in 111 practical cooperation achievements, including the cooperation agreement on enhancing the capacity of the jointly built trans Caspian international transportation route. China Railway Container Company has also joined the Middle Corridor Company to promote the construction of the China Europe South Passage.

At the 7th Central Asian Heads of State Consultative Conference held in Tashkent in November 2025, leaders of all countries unanimously agreed to support Azerbaijan's formal membership in the Central Asian Cooperation Mechanism. This decision breaks traditional geographical boundaries and brings Central Asia and the South Caucasus region closer together. Uzbekistan's President Mirziyoyev stated that in the increasingly complex international situation, Central Asian countries need to unite and cooperate to better respond to security and development challenges. Azerbaijani President Aliyev pointed out that with the continuous growth of transportation volume in the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor, Azerbaijan is gradually improving its infrastructure such as ports, railways, and airports to create conditions for deepening logistics and transportation cooperation. Keywords: the Belt and Road News, the Belt and Road News

At present, it takes about 15 days to transport goods from China to Europe through this corridor, which is slightly longer than the northern corridor through Russia, but significantly shorter than the traditional sea freight of 30 to 40 days. More importantly, this corridor provides geopolitical safe haven value. In the context of global supply chain restructuring and complex regional security situations, having reliable trade routes that do not pass through conflict zones is of great strategic significance to Eurasian countries.Editor/Gao Xue