Wednesday, May 16, 2012 -
The heads of the railway firms of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran agreed Wednesday to establish a tripartite railway committee, Kazakhstan Railways said.
State-controlled National railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) said the three sides will hold their first meeting in Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea city of Aktau at the end of this month.
Talks will center on their interregional railroad corridor project linking Kazakhstan with Iran via Turkmenistan, the firm said in a notice posted on its railways.kz website.
The decision to set up the committee was made during a visit by a delegation of officials of KTZ to the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas to familiarize themselves with the route.
The report noted that the Kazakh and Turkmen stretches of the route are ready for operation, while Iran will complete its own section by the end of this year.
The North-South railroad will permit landlocked Kazakhstan to transport grains to international markets via the Iranian Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas. Turkmenistan will also ship its cotton exports by the same route.
The project was implemented in 2007 with the ultimate aim of linking the countries of northern and eastern Europe via Russia to the Arabian Gulf and South and Southeast Asian countries.