Solemn jointing and launching new international railway crossing between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

MANGYSTAU REGION.11 May. KAZINFORM - Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov have opened the through railway service the "Bolashak station (Republic of Kazakhstan) - Serhetyaka station (Turkmenistan)".

This corridor allows to carry out the direct delivery of goods and to shorten the route of transit trains in the direction of Turkmenistan through Kazakhstan and vice versa.

The "Bolashak-Serhetyaka" line section is a part of the transnational railway corridor that will connect Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran. It will provide land flow of cargo access to the sea routes in the Persian Gulf region.

In the structure of cargo flow on an open railway crossing, as it was announced at a meeting of heads of the states, grain, oil and oil products will prevail.

The new corridor will significantly increase the transit potential of Kazakhstan paving the way for domestic products to new markets.

Kazakhstan's part of the railway corridor is called Uzen-Bolashak and has the length of 146 km. Its construction began on September 30, 2009. The Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev gave a start for the construction.

The head of the state paid careful attention towards the project implementation. The importance of the new line has been repeatedly emphasized in the President’s annual Address to the people of Kazakhstan.

The new railway is a modern line with the developed infrastructure. The two new stations with layouts and 5 interstations were opened along the railway. The line is equipped with the communication devices, signaling, centralization and blocking. On the site of Mangyshlak - Uzen - Bolashak the fiber optic communication line was laid. All the stations and the crossing loops are supplied with electricity. Service and technical facilities were built in the stations of Uzen, Bolai and in the crossing loops.

Bolashak border station has been significantly developed. There was established a complex of social and technical purposes, provided water and gas supply to the administrative and residential buildings.

The cost of construction amounted to KZT 65 billion (tenge). Kazakhstan content in the construction was 80%. More than 2,000 employees were involved in the period of the construction. Commissioning of the railway operation provided more than 800 Kazakhstanis with jobs and housing.