{"id":293234,"date":"2025-09-29T19:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=66273"},"modified":"2025-09-29T19:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:09:11","slug":"middle-corridor-development-will-require-28-billion-dollars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=293234","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Middle Corridor development will require 28 billion dollars\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the coming 15 years, the development of the Middle Corridor will require around 28 billion dollars in investments, says the World Bank. The vast majority of that money will have to go to the railways, but ports also need money to keep up with growing freight flows.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>In total, the Middle Corridor will need 25 billion dollars for railways, another 1,8 billion dollars will have to go to port expansions and modernisations. Those numbers come from the World Bank and were shared by its Regional Director for the South Caucasus, Rolande Pryce, at the First Azerbaijan International Investment Forum.<\/p>\n

The potential of the Middle Corridor is limited by bottlenecks, which mostly exist at the intersections of railways and ports, such as Aktau and Kuryk in Kazakhstan and Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan. Pryce also emphasised the importance of harmonised approaches to digitalising procedures and regulations, which would ensure smooth operations for corridor users.<\/p>\n

Multilateral development banks lack the necessary funds to meet current investment demands, Pryce added, and said that the World Bank is addressing this by refining its partnership model, which involves attracting private capital and collaborating with governments.<\/p>\n

Kazakh expectations<\/h2>\n

The Kazakh Ministry of Finance expects the Middle Corridor freight volume to grow to 7,2 million tonnes by 2027. In 2024, that number was 3,3 million tonnes. For 2025, it expects the corridor to reach 5,2 million tonnes, and 6 million tonnes in 2026.<\/p>\n

The expectation for 2027 is a step back from earlier projections. In May, Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vasilenko said that Kazakhstan plans to increase the freight volume on the Middle Corridor to 10 million tonnes by 2027, according to publication LogiStan.<\/p>\n