The first Agroexpress train carrying oat flakes departed Russia for India. This inaugural trip utilized the eastern route of the North-South International Transport Corridor, traversing Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.
This multimodal shipment of cargo was organized by the logistics arm of Russian Railways “Russian Railways Logistics” and LLC “Dry Port Yuzhnouralsky” (part of the State Transport Leasing Company Group).
The train loaded with 31 twenty-foot containers from the Russian manufacturer Uvelka began its voyage at Formachevo station (South Ural Railway). The train will travel through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, reaching Sarakhs station in Turkmenistan. There, the containers will be reloaded onto the 1435 gauge and will proceed through Iran to the port of Bandar Abbas. They will then embark on a sea voyage to India’s Mundra port. The entire trip is expected to take approximately 35 days.
Russian Railways Logistics anticipates significant growth in agro-industrial goods transported along this route, potentially reaching 100,000 tons annually within a few years.
The Agroexpress service, focused on the export of Russian products to China and East Asian countries, will receive a new impetus due to the advantages of the eastern route of the INSTC. “Continuous rail links with countries such as Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran through Kazakhstan, as well as additional prospects for organizing cargo transportation to the Persian Gulf and Africa countries enable Russian exporters to find alternative markets for their products,” says Alexander Sivertsev, Director of Container Transportation and Agrologistics at Russian Railways Logistics.