Astana (TDI): Kazakhstan has significantly increased the volume of grain and coal transported via rail through Russia, especially along the eastern route of the North-South transport corridor.
Container traffic along this corridor rose by 63 percent in the first quarter of the current year, crossing 1,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), according to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the country’s national railway operator.
The North-South corridor connects Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, with a cargo capacity of ten million tons per annum.
Its eastern route, which passes through Kazakhstan, is emerging as a major path for regional trade.
From September 2024 to April 2025, Kazakhstan exported more than 650,000 tons of grain via Russian and Baltic Sea ports.
Meanwhile, containerized freight between China and Russia through Kazakhstan went up by 30 percent year-on-year during the first quarter of the ongoing year, surpassing 132,000 TEU.
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Coal transit volumes witnessed a dramatic rise. Between January to March 2025, the country exported 2.3 million tons of coal via Russian territory, an increase of 44.5 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2024.
Of this total, 1.3 million tons were transported through Baltic Sea ports, while another 900,000 tons were shifted via Azov and Black Sea ports, a fivefold increase over last year.
At an April 28 meeting in Almaty, KTZ and Russian Railways representatives reaffirmed their commitment to expanding collaboration.
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The two sides agreed to enhance shipments of Kazakh coal to Russian ports and continue developing strategic joint initiatives.
In November last year, KTZ and Russian Railways inked a landmark deal to modernize railway infrastructure at 9 key border stations.
The agreement includes plans to enhance capacity and implement a unified digital system to streamline transportation and cross-border logistics.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
