Container transport from China to Italy on the TITR has resumed
On the 17th of April, 2024, after a one-year suspension, thanks to the joint efforts of the international association “Trans-Caspian International Transport Route” (“TITR Association”) and “Xinjiang “COSCO Shipping Container Lines Co., Ltd”, the container transport of tomato paste resumed as part of a block train from Xinjiang, China to the port of Naples, Italy along the TITR route. The train ceremonially departed from Jinghe station at 11:30 local time.
The container train will pass through the Khorgos-Altynkol railway border crossing on the Kazakh-Chinese border and arrive at the port of Aktau, Kazakhstan on the Caspian Sea, where the containers will be loaded onto a feeder vessel owned by the Kazakh shipping company LLP “NMSC “Kazmortransflot” and delivered to the port of Baku (Alyat) in Azerbaijan. From there, the container block train will travel via the railways of Azerbaijan and Georgia to the port of Poti, Georgia. After arrival and processing at the port of Poti, the containers of tomato paste will be loaded onto the COSCO Shipping Container Lines vessel and then travel through the Black and Mediterranean Seas via the Greek port of Piraeus to the port of Naples in Italy.
The expected transit time for the train from Jinghe station to the port of Poti is 11 days, and a single transport document – the SMGS waybill – will be used along the entire length of the specified multimodal route.
It should be noted that the specialists of Kazakh Railways have developed a special schedule for the passage of container trains on the route Altynkol station – Aktau port, according to which the speed of container trains is about 1050 km/day, thanks to which trains cover this section of the route (3128 km) in 72 hours. Similar block train schedules are used on the railways of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The service providers along the entire route of the block train from Altynkol station to the port of Poti are members of the International Trans-Caspian Transport Consortium (subsidiaries of full members of the TITR Association) – “KTZ Express”, “ADY Container”, “GR Logistics and Terminlas”.
Next week, another block train carrying tomato paste is scheduled to leave Urumqi for Italy on the TITR route. In addition, two container trains are planned for May and June this year, with the number and frequency of departures to be further increased.
