Rail

JSC NC KTZ has begun a large-scale modernization of the railway infrastructure on the Kandyagash-Tobol and Kyzylzhar-Saksaulskaya routes. The working commission headed by Deputy Chairman of the Board Talgat Aldybergenov and Director of the Main Network Directorate branch Saken Rakhmetov conducted an inspection tour, covering more than 1,200 km of tracks in the Kostanay, Aktobe, Kyzylorda and Karaganda regions.

JSC KTZ Express announced the launch of an international multimodal door-to-door delivery service on the Kazakhstan-Belgium route. The new logistics product covers the full cycle of transportation: from domestic logistics in Kazakhstan to road delivery across Europe, including rail transit, customs clearance and full control at all stages.

State-owned Azerbaijan Railways (ADY), part of AZCON Holding, has signed a contract with Chinese manufacturer CRRC Ziyang Co., Ltd for the supply of seven AC50 mainline diesel locomotives and spare parts for a total of $26 million. All technical and commercial terms of the deal have already been agreed upon.

While road freight flows uninterrupted across European borders, electric freight rail continues to be limited by infrastructure bottlenecks at several border crossings.

The state-owned Lithuanian operator LTG Cargo (part of the LTG group) is expanding the geography of multimodal transportation by adding two new routes to the existing Kaunas-Duisburg route — Kaunas-Lodz and Lodz-Duisburg. Test runs are planned for their launch in the near future, and regular service may begin as early as June 2025.

The Swiss government has submitted the full version of the Freight Transport Ordinance (GüTV) for public consultation, which provides for a reform of the subsidy system for rail and inland waterway transport. The new procedure envisages fixed payments, for example CHF 40 per loaded rail car with a minimum annual volume of 720 cars for industrial sidings. The total funding will amount to CHF 50 million per year. At the same time, the current compensation for road hauliers in combined transport will be gradually abolished.

Ukrzaliznytsia’s subsidiary UZ Cargo Poland, in partnership with LTG Cargo Polska, successfully carried out the first transportation of oil products along the Lithuania-Poland-Ukraine route. For the first time, the transportation was carried out by UZ Cargo Poland as a licensed EU railway operator in Poland, providing a full range of freight forwarding services and using wagons owned by JSC Ukrzaliznytsia.

The KTZ – Freight Transportation company took an active part in the annual conference of KazAPO and ANEK in Almaty, where the key topics were the development of transport and logistics partnerships, digitalization and strengthening of Kazakhstan’s position as a regional leader. Salamat Abzhaliyev, Deputy General Director for Marketing and Planning, announced the results of the first quarter: freight turnover amounted to 66.9 billion ton-kilometers (+7.2%), and exports to China grew by 9.8%, reaching 3.6 million tons.

KTZ Express will take part in the implementation of key transport and logistics projects in the Caspian Sea region. This became known during a visiting meeting of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Aktau, dedicated to the role of regional science in the development of the country’s transport infrastructure. Minister of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan Marat Karabayev emphasized the importance of scientific support and announced large-scale investments in logistics.

KTZ Express has recorded a sharp increase in container traffic along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). This was reported by Deputy General Director Aibek Kapar during the II International Transport Forum ESE ASIA-2025. According to him, the development of the route has become a key factor that has increased the volume of cargo transportation through Kazakhstan many times over.