Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan attended the ceremony marking the arrival of the first cargo train on the route "Xi’an – Khorgos – Almaty – Saryagach – Tashkent."

Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov and Kazakhstan’s Minister of Transport Marat Karabayev reported on the outcomes of their joint efforts to expand the transport and transit capabilities of the two countries.

The train departed from the Kazakhstan-China terminal in Xi’an and arrived at the dry port of Khorgos, where containers were transferred and then sent via Kazakhstan’s railroads through the Saryagach station to the Tashkent station.

In April of this year, an agreement was reached in Khiva to organize cargo transportation along the China – Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan route and to develop the Trans-Afghan direction. This agreement facilitated expedited cargo delivery. The container train covered 4486 km in a record 5 days.

The reduction in transportation time was made possible through the use of Kazakhstan’s terminal facilities in China and close cooperation between the railway administrations of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in expanding border infrastructure.