Phases
Objective
Description
According to CAREC Railway Strategy 2017-2030, CAREC 2 Corridors connects the PRC and Turkey/Southern Europe via Central Asia. There are four sub-corridors. Route 201 01 connects the PRC and Caucasus through Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea and serves as the main route of the Mediterranean-East Asia connection as the rail network has been fully completed, while the rail-maritime connection in the Caspian Sea remains a major issue. Route 202 connects the PRC, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. It includes a port connection to the Caspian Sea between the ports of Aktau (KAZ) and Aylat/Baku (AZE). Route 203 is a similar route to DRC 202 except for the port connection at the Caspian Sea, where alternatively, DRC 203 uses the port of Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan. In Route 204, 1,700 km of railway needs to be constructed, including (i) Kashi–Irkeshtam in the PRC; (ii) Irkeshtam–Karamyk in Kyrgyz Republic; (iii) Vahdat–Karamyk and (iv) Kolkhozabad–Panji Poyon in Tajikistan; (v) Shirkhan Bandar–Mazar-e-Sharif–Sheberghan and (vi) Sheberghan–Herat in Afghanistan. Considering geographic conditions and the number of countries to cross, the rail construction for this corridor is quite ambitious, and thus economic and financial analyses are required to justify the construction.