Kazakhstan has begun construction of a new Darbaza – Maktaaral railway line with a length of 152 km on the border with Uzbekistan, the press service of the Kazakh Prime Minister reports.

Since the beginning of the year, the volume of cargo transportation between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan amounted to 25.8 million tons. The main cargo flow occurs at the “Saryagash” docking station, which is currently operating at capacity limits.

“The construction of a new railway line will make it possible to redirect cargo from the existing Saryagash – Tashkent section to a new line, relieve congestion at the “Saryagash” station and increase export traffic in the direction of Uzbekistan as a whole,” the report reads.

Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov noted that by the end of this year, bilateral cargo traffic will increase by 16% – to 31 million tons.

At the same time, the project is divided into two stages. The first involves the construction of the Erdaut – Maktaaral – Syrdarya line. The second will be the Jetisay – Syrdarya branch line to be put into operation. Kazakhstan's share of participation in the project will be 85%.

“Cargo that goes to Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will pass through this line faster. Another effect: tension on the Saryagash – Tashkent section will ease. In recent years there has been a lot of cargo there. However, not all of them are transferred on time, because this junction is not designed for such cargo flow. It has increased sharply in the last two to three years. Construction will help relieve congestion on this main section and allow passenger trains to move,” Kanat Almagambetov, deputy head of Kazakhstan Temir Joly, said.

In the next three years, Kazakhstan plans to build over 1,300 km of railways.

From November 20, freight traffic through the Saryagash border crossing has been increased to 30 trains per day. In particular, there is an increased load on the Saryagash border crossing, which reduces the highway throughput.