Türkiye–PRC Railway Partnership Bolsters Middle Corridor

Eurasia Daily Monitor | Vusal Guliyev

Türkiye’s Pasifik ISR and China’s Guangzhou Communications Investment signed a railway cooperation agreement on June 10 to establish regular freight services along the Middle Corridor. This bilateral transport deal aims to secure trans-Eurasian supply chains against maritime disruptions in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has severely degraded the viability of the Northern Corridor, forcing international logistics operators to seek alternative overland transit channels. By utilizing this 6,500-kilometer multimodal trade artery, Beijing and Ankara plan to run 1,000 freight trains annually, integrating Turkish infrastructure like the Marmaray Tunnel with Chinese manufacturing hubs. This expansion directly benefits transit states like Azerbaijan and Georgia, which are modernizing the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway to accommodate a container traffic volume that tripled in 2025, ultimately reducing delivery times between East Asia and European markets while bypassing Russian territory and enhancing regional economic integration.

Comment

The expansion of scheduled block trains along the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway exposes the severe capacity bottlenecks of the Caspian Sea maritime transit segment. While overland rail links bypass sanctioned Russian territory, the physical limitations of port infrastructure in Baku and Aktau restrict rapid throughput scaling. Consequently, trans-Eurasian logistics remain highly vulnerable to weather-induced delays and vessel shortages on the Trans-Caspian route. This operational friction prevents the Middle Corridor from fully replacing traditional maritime shipping lanes despite the growing frequency of bilateral transport agreements.

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