{"id":152711,"date":"2024-11-28T19:59:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T09:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=58203"},"modified":"2024-11-28T19:59:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T09:59:23","slug":"kazakhstan-hands-out-50-discount-and-wants-new-rail-operator-for-instc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=152711","title":{"rendered":"Kazakhstan hands out 50% discount and wants new rail operator for INSTC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kazakhstan has big expectations and big plans for the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The Central Asian country is handing out a serious discount on freight transit along the eastern branch of the corridor, it wants to create a whole new rail operator for the route and grow capacity twofold.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>In order to encourage shippers to make use of the eastern branch of the INSTC, which runs along the east coast of the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan is offering a 50 per cent discount on transit traffic on its territory. At the same time, the Kazakhstan transport minister Marat Karabayev says that work is ongoing to create a logistical operator for the eastern INSTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cKazakhstan and Russia have already conducted preparatory procedures for the creation of a joint enterprise. The position of Turkmenistan on the participation in the project is awaited\u201d, Karabayev said.<\/p>\n

Twofold capacity increase<\/h2>\n

The ministry is also expecting throughput capacity to grow significantly on the route. Currently, the eastern branch of the INSTC has a capacity of 10 million tonnes annually, but that is supposed to grow to 20 million tonnes. For the time being, however, only 1,8 million tonnes transit the corridor on a yearly basis. Nevertheless, Kazakhstan plans to boost it twofold, \u201cconsidering the potential of the corridor\u201d, the minister said.<\/p>\n

The INSTC is an international transport corridor that runs between Russia and Iran, along both sides of the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan is aiming to establish itself as a major freight transit hub, not only for China – Europe traffic, but also for freight in the north – south direction.<\/p>\n