Russian Railways is ready to contribute to the electrification of Turkmenistan's railway infrastructure in the key direction from Turkmenbashi to Turkmenabat.
Vyacheslav Pavlovsky, Deputy General Director of Russian Railways, told reporters about this. "In terms of infrastructure projects, the Russian side is ready to assist in the electrification of railway infrastructure in the key direction from Turkmenbashi to Turkmenabat and is ready to offer an integrated approach in terms of creating a regulatory framework for electrification and personnel training," Vyacheslav Pavlovsky said. He also stressed that the parties had agreed on the reconstruction of the car repair plant in Kyzylarbat. Pavlovsky noted the dynamic cooperation between Russian and Turkmen railways. He also recalled that the head of JSC "Russian Railways" Oleg Belozerov and the chairman of the agency "Turkmendemirellary" (Turkmen Railways) Azat Atamuradov had previously signed a program for the development of cooperation for 2023-2025.
"As part of the implementation of this document, we are jointly developing container service along the eastern route of the North—South MTK. At the end of January 2024, the movement of container trains through the Turkmen-Iranian border crossing Akyaila — Inche-Burun will be opened on a permanent basis," he added. At the same time, Pavlovsky noted that it has already been possible to achieve the figure of four container trains per month, and that in the future the company aims to significantly increase these volumes. According to Pavlovsky, Russian Railways is working closely with the Turkmen side on the development of human resources: a training program for Turkmen railway workers has been prepared at the Russian Railways Corporate University. "In addition to the training program, Turkmen colleagues are expected to visit railway transport facilities in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and teachers of the Corporate University can also travel to Turkmenistan," Pavlovsky said.
