Turkmen president describes east Caspian Sea railway as international corridor

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow underlined that the joint railway linking Iran to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan is an international corridor linking different world states to each other like a highway.
"The international East Caspian Sea railway is highly important and an international highway, with very good prospects," Berdimuhamedow said in Northern Iran on Wednesday, addressing a ceremony to inaugurate the joint railway linking Iran to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
"We have done a great job during this period. A part of the railway has been inaugurated before and this move will in future lead to the construction of an international highway and will help to the flourishing and development of good neighborliness and relations," he added.
Noting that most parts of the railway are in the Asian continent, Berdimuhamedow said this path has attracted international attention in recent years for the large extent that it facilitates transit of goods.
The inauguration ceremony of Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railway was held in Inche-Boroun at Iran-Turkmenistan joint borderline today in the presence of the three countries' presidents.
The length of the railway which has been built in the East of the Caspian Sea is about 908 km of which 120 km is in Kazakhstan, 700 in Turkmenistan and 88 km in Iran.
The railway route connects the Commonwealth of the Independent States (CIS) countries to the Persian Gulf and the South East Asian nations.
Last month, a senior Iranian railway official said the joint railway will shorten the North-South route considerably.
"The inauguration of Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan route is expected to shorten the route from Russia and Kazakhstan in North to the open seas in the south by at least 400 kilometers," Deputy Managing Director of Iranian Railway Company Hossein Ashouri said.
He underlined that as the route was shortened, the cost of cargo transportation from Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran would be reduced and the said countries will become more interests in transit of their goods via this route to the South and Europe.
In October, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani emphasized the need for relevant officials to pave the ground for faster implementation of joint railroad projects with the neighboring countries, particularly with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Afghanistan.
President Rouhani urged officials in charge to complete the Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan and the Khwaf-Herat (between Iran and Afghanistan) railways maximum within the next few months.