In the context of diversifying foreign trade flows, Uzbekistan is extending freight transport via the Caspian Sea. Particular focus is being given to the effective use of Turkmenistan’s railway and port infrastructure.
In 2025, the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi handled 1 million tons of Uzbek cargo, accounting for 83 percent of the country’s total cargo turnover along the Middle Corridor.
Construction of the 533-kilometre China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway began in December 2024, lays the groundwork for further enhancing and increasing the competitiveness of the southern branch of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. In 2019, Uzbekistan partnered with Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia to launch the Central Asia-South Caucasus-Anatolia+ (CASCA+) transport corridor. This initiative aims to develop container shipping between the participating countries, and transit traffic to Europe. Simultaneously, a mechanism for regular meetings of the heads of the five countries’ railway administrations was launched. Turkey joined this platform in 2021.
In 2020, the first block train departed from Lanzhou in China, via Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, to Mary Station in Turkmenistan. In addition, several trial shipments of cargo also travelled via CASCA+ from Central Asia to Georgia and Turkey. Construction of a railway line through Kyrgyzstan—along the Torugart-Arpa-Kosh-Dobo-Makmal-Jalal-Abad route, planned for completion by 2030—promises to enhance the efficiency of this corridor by achieving monomodality on the Central Asian section of the trade route and reducing delivery times. This development also creates significant opportunities for Tajikistan to access global markets by cooperating closely with Uzbekistan.
In February 2026, the parties launched the first container train along the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan route, using preferential tariffs. Given Dushanbe’s interest in utilizing the capacity of the Middle Corridor to transport export goods to Europe, there is potential for the new logistics chain to be linked to the Trans-Caspian route via Turkmenistan’s road network and seaport. Another option for establishing a multimodal transport corridor connecting Tajikistan with the European market would be a route via Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey. Pilot testing of the project began in January 2026.
Extending the future China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway to the Caspian Sea, providing access to the South Caucasus and Turkey, will strengthen Tashkent’s and Bishkek’s transit positions, forming an additional structure in the transcontinental transport architecture along the east-west axis.
The growing dynamics of trade between Central Asia and the EU, coupled with the intensification of trade and economic relations with the South Caucasus states and Turkey, are giving the CASCA+ initiative new meaning. To coordinate its future development, the Eurasian Transport Route International Association (ETRIA), comprising Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, was established in 2024.
On February 10, 2026, the heads of the railways of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Georgia met in Ashgabat. The parties aim to establish a quadripartite joint venture to act as a single operator for freight transport on the CASCA+ corridor. The meeting also discussed measures to increase freight traffic, digitalize the transport process, simplify data exchange and introduce through tariffs, all of which will enhance the commercial attractiveness of the trade route.
Thus, Uzbekistan’s progressive transport logistics policy not only contributes to the country achieving its own priorities, such as doubling the volume of international freight traffic and logistics product exports and increasing annual transit to 22 million tons by 2030, but also strengthens regional connectivity. Furthermore, by promoting large-scale transport initiatives in partnership with neighboring states, Tashkent is shaping a new reality in the geopolitics of transport corridors in Central Asia, in which the region is recognized as an independent actor. In this context, practical steps are being taken to enable each of the five Central Asian republics’ capabilities to participate in trans-Caspian transport routes, which will undoubtedly enhance their strategic importance. Furthermore, alternative trade routes along the Middle Corridor can shield the region from the repercussions of global geopolitical upheavals. This variety is particularly relevant in light of the current escalation of military conflict in the Middle East, rising tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, all of which have complicated traditional supply chains in various ways.
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AUTHOR’S BIO: Nargiza Umarova is a Head of the Center for Strategic Connectivity at the Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS), University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED) and an analyst at the Non-governmental Research Institution ‘Knowledge Caravan’, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Her research activities focus on developments in Central Asia, trends in regional integration and the influence of great powers on this process. She also explores Uzbekistan’s current policy on the creation and development of international transport corridors.
She can be contacted at [email protected].
