Recently, at the changing yard of Alashankou Port, gantry cranes shuttled back and forth, and a newly formed train slowly departed. Unlike previous years, this train has 5 more carriages than before. By the end of October 2026, the total number of China Europe trains passing through Alataw Pass and Khorgos Port has exceeded 15052, with a total freight volume of 30.58 million tons. Behind the increase in carriages from 50 to 55, there is a systematic check by the railway department on the line carrying capacity, replacement scheduling, and station tracks. The single carriage carrying weight has been increased from 2500 tons to 3000 tons, resulting in a direct 10% increase in transportation capacity.

Add five carriages to the carriage to increase transportation capacity

Expanding the formation is not simply adding carriages. The railway department has completed the verification of the line carrying capacity, optimized the scheduling process of the replacement yard, and coordinated the station track plan in the early stage, releasing the port throughput capacity without waiting for the new construction project to be put into use. Large quantities of stable export categories such as photovoltaic modules, complete sets of electromechanical equipment, building materials, and consumer goods have been amortized in terms of unit transportation costs. Traditional freight transportation channels remain tight during the peak season of the fourth quarter, and foreign trade enterprises still need to plan transportation arrangements in advance if they have long-term export plans. Going to southern countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, we are currently relying more on road TIR transportation. The progress of the construction of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway deserves continuous attention.

90% of the cargo manifest is before submission

The two major ports continue to promote the implementation of railway rapid transit and digital port systems. Khorgos Port has fully promoted the railway express mode, and online circulation of manifest data, inspection information and release instructions has reduced the delivery time of paper documents. Alashankou Port has implemented a pre confirmation mode for manifest entrustment, where ticket translation, document information comparison, and data review are advanced to before the arrival of the train at the port. Railway reloading operations are carried out synchronously with customs inspections, changing the previous serial waiting mode. At present, the proportion of advance transmission of manifest at the two major ports has reached 90%, effectively reducing the waiting time for trains to stay at the port and lowering the cost of cargo detention. Keywords: Cross border trains, transportation, trade, logistics

China Kazakhstan Consultation on Resolving Cross border Difficulties

Khorgos Customs continued to improve the normalized foreign affairs liaison and consultation mechanism of China Kazakhstan Customs. The two sides regularly carried out online video conferences and offline business docking. The topics covered port peak traffic flow facilitation, mutual recognition of inspection standards, handling of special documents and difficulties, and supervision scheme for oversized large goods. When there are differences in bilateral customs supervision, the customs departments of the two countries directly communicate and negotiate to form a unified disposal plan, shortening the disposal cycle of disputed goods. This mechanism is most directly beneficial for cross-border infrastructure projects and the export of large-scale complete sets of equipment. The supporting equipment for mining, water conservancy, and energy infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan is generally oversized and overweight. Direct communication and consultation between bilateral customs can reduce cross-border communication barriers and lower the risk of project delivery delays. It should be clarified that the consultation and coordination channel does not mean an exemption channel, and the goods still need to comply with the laws, regulations, and regulatory requirements of both countries.Editor/Gao Xue