On July 14, 2026, a 55 TEU Chinese commodity train entered the east coast of the Caspian Sea, completing the first delivery of this land sea intermodal artery extending from the Pacific to the Caspian Sea, and announcing the official operation of the Aktau Port Container Hub Phase I.

Connecting the Yellow Sea to the Caspian Sea to form a line

The hub is located on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, with Lianyungang Port Group holding a 51% stake in its construction and operation. It has an annual designed throughput of 240000 TEUs. The first phase covers an area of 9.1 hectares, with the construction of three railway loading and unloading lines and approximately 690 flat container spaces, achieving the full process operation of container transportation, inspection, and dangerous goods handling.

The first train departs from Zhejiang and carries goods such as coil steel, household appliances, and electric scooters. It passes through Aktau and is then transported by sea across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. According to the data disclosed by Lianyungang Port, the Sino Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) Logistics Cooperation Base and Khorgos Dongmen Dry Port have been operating for more than ten years respectively - the former has operated more than 7200 China Europe (Asia) trains in total, and the latter's transshipment volume has soared from 20000 TEUs at the beginning of the port opening to 324000 TEUs in 2024.

Accelerate running in the middle corridor

The Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor is entering a growth channel. In the past five years, the freight volume of this route has increased from 800000 tons to 4.5 million tons, a growth of about six times; In the first five months of 2026, the container transportation volume from China to Europe increased by 30% year-on-year. Keywords: freight volume, land sea intermodal transportation

On July 15, Lianyungang Port signed a four party agreement with Kazakhstan Railway, China Railway Container and COSCO Shipping to build a three hub integrated operation pattern around Aktau Port Hub, Khorgos Dongmen Dry Port and Lianyungang Station. From the coast of the East China Sea to the shores of the Caspian Sea, the logistics channel between China and Kazakhstan is moving from a single point layout to a networked connection.Editor/Cheng Liting