Elvira Kadyrova
The Minister of Railway Transport of Turkmenistan, Mammet Akmammedov, presented a large-scale strategy for the modernization of the country’s transport system at the Turkmen-Chinese Business Forum in Ashgabat. He assigned a pivotal role to technological cooperation with the People’s Republic of China.
One of the forum’s primary announcements involved details regarding the modernization of the Ashgabat – Turkmenbashi railway line. According to the Minister, the sector has already announced an international tender for the preparation of a feasibility study for the modernization of the railway and its infrastructure.
“During the modernization of the Ashgabat – Turkmenbashi railway, we plan to implement passenger transport at speeds of 160 km/h and freight transport at 90 km/h. We also aim to increase the capacity of day and night trains to 35 pairs and set the axle load at 28 tons,” Akmammedov stated.
This project will involve the improvement of engineering structures and infrastructure buildings, the enhancement of technical maintenance, and the installation of a modern, reliable traffic safety system.
Decades of Successful Partnership with the PRC
The Minister noted that the Ministry of Railway Transport of Turkmenistan has been cooperating with locomotive and passenger car manufacturers in the People’s Republic of China since 2005. During this period, Turkmenistan has purchased from China:
- 180 freight, passenger, and shunting diesel locomotives;
- 423 passenger cars (including service cars, compartment cars, dining cars, and manual trolleys from Tangshan, Shijiazhuang, and Nanjing).
Special emphasis was placed on the partnership during 2025–2026. In 2025, capital maintenance was performed on 20 locomotives from Turkmenistan at the CRRC Ziyang plant.
“This year, we plan to conduct capital and technical maintenance on a total of 20 diesel locomotives—including 10 passenger and 10 freight units—and to purchase 5 new freight diesel locomotives,” the Minister reported.
Looking Ahead: The China – Central Asia – Europe Corridor
As Akmammedov stated, leading companies from the PRC are currently actively cooperating with Turkmenistan on railway modernization and are putting forward competitive proposals for the creation of advanced high-speed rail transport.
“In connection with the commissioning of the new transit railway corridor within the under-construction China – Kyrgyzstan – Uzbekistan international route, our country must carry out large-scale reforms in the railway sector and create a modern, reliable system,” the Minister emphasized.
According to Akmammedov, China has proposed that Turkmenistan sign an intergovernmental cooperation agreement to deepen the operation of the China – Central Asia – Europe express route.
This, in turn, necessitates the modernization of the country’s railway infrastructure and the improvement of logistics services on domestic east-west routes.
“The modernization of the railways on the Ashgabat – Turkmenbashi and Ashgabat – Turkmenabat routes will enable reliable and convenient transit transport in the region and transform the country into a multimodal transport hub,” the Minister noted. /// nCa, 29 April 2026