A long-awaited agreement between Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and China to advance the construction of a railroad connecting their nations has been inked. If successful, this line will create a faster path to Europe by avoiding Russia, which is under sanctions.
A meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was taking place in Uzbekistan on September 14, and the three nations signed the agreement on that day.
The CKU connection was initially proposed more than 25 years ago but has been unable to gain traction until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine gave it new life. The document does not provide a timetable for its completion.
However, by establishing guidelines for a feasibility study for the Kyrgyz leg, which is the final piece needed to connect the railroads already in place in China and Uzbekistan, to be finished by the first half of 2023, it does bring the project one step closer to realization.
The deal was reached with China’s National Development and Reform Commission, and the news was publicized by the transport ministries of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
According to the Kyrgyz Ministry of Transport and Communications, the study’s expenditures would be split evenly.
The ministry’s announcement appeared to corroborate prior rumors that, following years of negotiations, a route had finally been decided.
Kyrgyzstan had lobbied for a track that would service more populous places farther north but seems to have decided on a route that is limited to the south, from which it will gain — from job creation for the building of the line and transit revenues.
The railroad will start in Torugart, which already has a road crossing from China, and proceed through the towns of Arpa and Makmal to Jalal-Abad, where it will join the rail system of Uzbekistan.
In Makmal, a Sino-Kyrgyz joint company with a majority Chinese ownership is running a gold mine.
Here, The Economist recently reported, “the gauge will switch from the 1.435-meter track used in China and Europe to the 1.520-meter track used in the former Soviet Union.”
According to the newspaper’s quotation of Kyrgyz transport minister Erkinbek Osoyev, the 280-kilometer road will cost $4.1 billion and be financed either directly or through a public-private partnership.
The cost estimate is reasonable compared to earlier projections of treble for a train that will run through difficult hilly terrain and require a succession of tunnels – reportedly 90 of them – to be completed.
The Economist claims that 160 kilometers of the new track must be built in China in order for the existing line to be fed. Upon completion, the new connection may go on to Turkey, the entryway to Europe, through Iran and Turkmenistan.
The Economist predicted it would result in a 900-kilometer reduction in the distance between China and Europe and an eight-day reduction in travel time.
China has cautiously acknowledged the necessity to move the railroad construction plans forward while cautioning that it would not cover the entire cost.
Recently, Uzbekistan has enthusiastically embraced a project that it sees as a component of a larger plan to develop economic and transportation linkages from Central Asia to Turkey and then on to Europe, avoiding Russia’s isolation on the global stage.
