The Chinese demand for overland freight transportation across Eurasia is growing. In contrast to traditional maritime routes, land-based transport offers reliability and predictability. Kazakh Railways (KTZ) is making use of this and is changing radically.
Maritime trade routes have faced persistent challenges in recent years. If not the Houthis in the Red Sea, then it is maritime blockades in the Gulf that are hindering free passage of trade ships, and consequently extending dwell times and delivery times.
The solution for China is to simply look elsewhere. “Chinese clients have become more interested in shipping by land rather than by sea because of reliability and predictable delivery times”, Talgat Aldybergenov, who is the CEO of Kazakh Railways, told Bloomberg. Iran, too, has relied on transportation through Kazakhstan as the ongoing war obstructs maritime trade.
China–Iran container traffic through the country quadrupled already in 2025. Since the war, Chinese exporters have been desperate to find ways to ship their goods, reports SCMP, with price playing a minor role in the business calculation: there is no alternative.
Scaling up capacity
Kazakh authorities are, one has to imagine, hopeful about transportation business prospects in their country. Kazakhstan has already started a large-scale investment programme that saw over 800 kilometres of capacity-boosting double tracks built last year. In 2026, KTZ is building an additional 900 kilometres of railway lines, writes the Astana Times.
The latter includes a third rail border crossing with China, which is set to open next year. By 2030, rail freight capacity between the two countries should reach 100 million tonnes from the current 55 million tonnes.
The result of all of the above is that transport routes through Kazakhstan are looking ever-more attractive for China. They are faster and often more reliable than the alternatives. In this context, the role of KTZ is going through a metamorphosis.
All aboard KTZ
KTZ is no longer ‘just’ Kazakhstan’s railway operator. With Chinese goods rushing to Europe (and into Central Asia) overland, KTZ is now responsible for building a large part of the infrastructure needed to facilitate that. The company plays a vital enabling role in strategic freight flows, but also participates in them. It does so on the railways and is planning to go beyond that.
KTZ’s freight forwarding subsidiary KTZ Express is the prime example of this development: it is building a maritime fleet worth over 100 million US dollars to boost capacity for Caspian Sea crossings. That should contribute to resolving one of the major constraints on the Middle Corridor route.
KTZ goes from land to sea… to the skies
Clearly, the Kazakh rail operator is trying to position itself as the key transport company for Eurasian transportation by building, railing and shipping across the continent. Yet, that is still not all. The geopolitical shocks have also challenged the aviation industry, and KTZ might have anticipated this. Should there be a need to diversify away from established air freight hubs, Kazakhstan could be your future alternative route.
Already in 2025, KTZ announced that it would be entering the air freight market. Once operational, KTZ Air Cargo will focus on familiar-sounding regions: China, Southeast Asia and Europe. Freight for transportation includes auto parts, e-commerce products, electronics, industrial goods, machinery components, perishable items and pharmaceuticals.
The debt question
The company is evidently full of ambitions but remains in a rather questionable financial state. Its debt was around 8.5 billion euros in April 2026. For that reason, one more change is incoming at KTZ HQ in Astana. The operator is now owned by a state investment fund, but is looking to (partially) privatise. An Initial Public Offering (IPO) should have taken place this year.
However, said the Kazakh transport minister on 19 May, “the market situation is not the most favorable. The [KTZ owner] Samruk-Kazyna Fund is setting a new deadline for the first quarter of 2027.”
With a greatly expanded railway network, maritime operations, flight operations and (partial) privatisation, KTZ will look much different in the near future.