The departure of the block train on the China-Europe route is a step towards connecting people and economies between Azerbaijan and China, Vusal Aslanov, Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY) said at the ceremony for the departure of a container block train to Europe.
Aslanov emphasized that Azerbaijan supports China's Belt and Road initiative and continues to invest in infrastructure projects following the relevant orders of President Ilham Aliyev to strengthen the country's transit potential. He noted that these steps will make an even greater contribution to increasing the volume of transit cargo on the China-Europe-China route.
On the sidelines of the event, the ADY official met with colleagues from China, Kazakhstan, and Georgia to discuss the implementation of infrastructure works in line with the increasing cargo volume, ensuring the scheduled movement of trains, and other issues.
The multimodal route of the block train departing from Xi'an via the Middle Corridor encompasses railway networks as well as the ports of Altynkol and Aktau in Kazakhstan, Alat in Azerbaijan, Poti in Georgia, Burgas in Bulgaria, Belgrade in Serbia, Budapest in Hungary, and Duisburg and Hamburg in Germany.
The significance of the new route lies in increasing the freight volume by attracting container cargo previously sent to Hamburg via alternative transport corridors to the Middle Corridor. The block train is expected to reach its destination within 20-25 days.
Starting from January 2024, one or two trains are be regularly dispatched daily on the Xi'an-Europe route via the Middle Corridor.