Kazakh Railways (KTZ) is getting a freight terminal in Hungary. The company signed a memorandum of cooperation to that end as part of a state visit by the Central Asian country’s president. Supposedly, the terminal will help grow China – Europe container traffic.
With the memorandum, KTZ is entering a partnership with Hungary’s L.A.C. holding as well as the Chinese Xi’an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation. The three parties will build the terminal in Budapest, which is supposed to have a capacity of 230,000 TEU annually.
The terminal “will increase the number of container trains on the China-Europe-China route, including transit via the TITR. The implementation of the project will help reduce delivery times, reduce transportation costs and transshipment time”, KTZ says.
International expansion strategy
Kazakhstan is working to expand its logistics network abroad. It looks to position itself as a major transit hub for Asia – Europe traffic. The acquisition of terminals along transport corridors is a part of that strategy, explains KTZ. Earlier, the rail operator announced that it would be developing a freight terminal along the Caspian coast in Azerbaijan.