The first block train carrying car parts between landlocked Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan completed its trip. The block train consisting of 50 containers departed from the Assaka Logistics Center in Uzbekistan, while its destination was the port of Alat in Azerbaijan.

It followed a route via Turkmenistan, and after reaching the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi, the cargo was loaded on vessels to cross the Caspian Sea and reach the port of Alat on the other side.

The 50 40-foot containers were loaded with car parts, which will be used to build cars in an Azerbaijani car factory. ADY Container informed that the specific block train will become regular in the near future.

Middle Corridor gets more links

The rail link between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan is not the typical Silk Road link. Nevertheless, the landlocked Central Asian country has done some network upgrades since last year, which provide space for better connectivity with neighbouring countries, including Kazakhstan and China. In fact, the new link with Azerbaijan could be a very could test of how Uzbekistan could be incorporated in the Middle Corridor route, even though we cannot be sure whether Kazakhstan would consider such a development beneficial.

Earlier in January, ADY Container launched another train via the Middle Corridor connecting Xi’an in China with Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital. It was not the first train between China and Azerbaijan. However, it was an additional service that highlighted some of the Middle Corridor’s weaknesses that lie mainly on the weak short-sea links crossing the Caspian Sea. The Middle Corridor’s Achilles heel frequently suffers from bad weather conditions or even lack of vessels and inability to transport cargo.

Also read:

• New rail service launched between China and Azerbaijan
• More cargo between Europe-Azerbaijan through Turkey