Rail transit traffic up 32% in Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN, July 26 (KAZINFORM) – Kazakhstan saw a 32% growth in transit traffic by rail in 2020, Zhanibek Taizhanov, Deputy Chairman of the Transport Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan, Kazinform correspondent reports. The country carried out a number of projects, including the Zhezkazgan-Beineu project linking the center with the west, double-tracking project between Almaty and Shu, construction of necessary port and terminal infrastructure in Aktau, Kuryk, Khorgos ports, and so on. The country’s current rail transit traffic is 3.6-time more than that in 2016. Last year the figure stood at 876 thousand TEU, 32% more than in 2019. In his words, rail transit traffic was estimated at over 800 thousand TEU in the first half-year of 2021 rising by 36% than in the same period of last year, including transit container traffic at over 530 thousand TEU, a 44% rise. He added that the figure is to set to be increased to around one million by the yearend and up to 1,660 thousand TEU by 2025.