Shipping from China to Europe will become even faster as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), which runs from China through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and on to Ukraine, operates at full capacity.
Senior representatives from the railways and shipping industries in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan gathered in Baku on April 1 to discuss TITR - an ambitious project that connects Chinese and to European cargo via Central Asia and the South Caucasus. Expansion of the route is expected to cut down on international cargo shipping costs.
“Single tariffs for cargo transportation along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route will be determined in the near future,” Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov told reporters after the meeting.
The 4,766 kilometer-long TITR is considered an alternative to Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railway. It is supposed to shorten the length of time it takes to transport cargo from China to Ukraine’s Chornomorsk city seaport, to 14 days. Currently cargo trains running from China require between 15 and 19 days to reach Europe via Russia, while transportation via a full maritime routes take over one month to reach Europe. Alternatively, TITR includes 4,256 km of railways and 508 km of sea transit by traversing the Caspian and Black Seas.
“Those shipping cargo by this route will definitely save time. There are some locations in Europe from which it is profitable to ship cargo exactly via the Trans-Caspian route,” said an Azerbaijani shipping official who spoke to Caspian News but did not want to be identified.
“Cargo transportation by sea is significantly cheaper than those passing by land,” he added.
The route is considered to be the brainchild of Kazakhstan, one of the largest post-Soviet economies and a country that lies along the northeastern shore of the Caspian Sea. In 2012, the transportation ministries of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Kazakhstan signed a memorandum, committing them to developing a route that spans Eurasia. By late 2012, China showed interest in the project.
The first container train from China running on the route arrived at the Baku International Sea Trade Port in August 2015. Later that year China’s Minsheng Logistics, Georgia’s Trans Caucasus Terminals, Kazakhstan’s KTZ Express, and Azerbaijan’s Karvan Logistics and Caspian Shipping Company created a consortium to transport goods from China to Europe.
Ukraine officially joined the project in 2016, which it considers vital to its economy ever since Kiev left the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area (CISFTA) following Crimea’s annexation by Russia, in 2014. By joining TITR, Ukraine can transport its cargo to China and bypass Russia altogether.
TITR forms part of the international transport program known as TRACECA, or Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia. TRACECA includes the European Union and 14 member states of the Eastern European, Caucasian and Central Asian regions. The program’s aim is to strengthen Eurasian economic relations, trade and transport.
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