First railway route from China to Afghanistan organised

10 February 2025 KTZ Express JSC in cooperation with China Railway Container Transport Co., Ltd. (CRCT), the leading container railway operator in China, has organised a new railway route for freight traffic between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The route passes through the PRC, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Freight trains will cross the Chinese border through Khorgos checkpoint, go through the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Altynkol station), then through the Republic of Uzbekistan (Galaba station) and reach their final destination - Hairaton (Afghanistan) in about 12-15 days.

The route was launched by the first goods train, which departed from the station Tuanjetsetun (Chongqing, PRC). The train includes 55 containers with telecoms equipment.

The opening of this route strengthens Kazakhstan's key role as a strategic transit hub in the international transport Trans-Afghan corridor.