Recently, at a business forum in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan's Minister of Railways and Transport, Akmamedov, stood in front of a huge map marked with east-west railway lines and confidently announced the country's railway modernization plan. When he repeatedly mentioned the Chinese plan in his speech, representatives of Chinese rail transit companies in the audience had already circled several key nodes in their notebooks - locomotive overhaul, mainline renovation, regional networking. On the railway chessboard of Turkmenistan, Chinese technology is connecting from a single chess piece into a whole.

Twenty locomotives start annual major repairs

The cooperation between Turkmenistan and Chinese rail transit equipment manufacturing enterprises can be traced back to 2005, and a total of 180 types of diesel locomotives and 423 passenger cars have been purchased. In 2026, the earthwork plan will continue to carry out major repairs and technical maintenance on 20 diesel locomotives, and purchase 5 new freight diesel locomotives. By 2025, 20 locomotives had completed major repairs and been delivered at CRRC Ziyang Factory. The continuous maintenance and updating of locomotive inventory is laying the foundation for the overall upgrade of the railway system in Turkmenistan.

The modernization renovation of the West Line Railway has been launched

Turkmenistan has initiated an international tender for the modernization project of the Ashgabat Turkmenbashi railway. The total length of this line is 590 kilometers, which is the core section of the east-west railway mainline in Turkey. The transformation goal is clear: the passenger speed will be increased to 160 kilometers per hour, the freight speed will reach 90 kilometers per hour, the day and night train operation capacity will be increased to 35 pairs, and the axle load standard will be raised to 28 tons. The project covers the upgrading of bridges and stations, optimization of operation and maintenance systems, and introduction of modern driving safety systems. Akmamedov clearly pointed out that Chinese companies have proposed competitive solutions. Key words: the Belt and Road News Network, China Plan Sailing, Railway Modernization

China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway Speed up Regional Networking

With the construction of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway international channel advancing, Turkey believes it is necessary to accelerate the upgrading of the domestic railway system in order to create a modern and efficient transportation network. At present, the total length of Turkmenistan's railways is about 5198 kilometers, but most of the lines are severely aging and urgently require speed improvement and renovation. After the upgrade of the east-west trunk line, the regional transit transportation capacity will be greatly improved, and Turkmenistan is transforming from the end of the road network to a multimodal transport hub. From locomotives to road networks, from single tracks to hubs, China's railway technology standards and equipment are accelerating along the trajectory of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway towards the hinterland of Central Asia.Editor/Gao Xue