Estonia: direct rail freight link to China targeted
The Estonian state-owned rail operator Eesti Raudtee (ER) is projecting the setting of a direct regular rail freight link from Tallinn through Kazakhstan to China in 2007.
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2007 February 8 06:42
The Estonian state-owned rail operator Eesti Raudtee (ER) is projecting the setting of a direct regular rail freight link from Tallinn through Kazakhstan to China in 2007.The rail delivery in 11-14 days would be competitive with the maritime cargo links to China, with the delivery time ranging from 35 to 45 days. The link would increase 50-fold the container transit volume through Estonia. Rene Varek, marketing director at ER says the company will launch the direct rail freight link Tallinn-Almaty (Kazakhstan), an extension to the Chinese launched Shanghai-Almaty link. ER targets to increase the container transit volume from the present 10,000 units a year to 500,000 units in the next 3-5 years. ER claims the development of the container transit sector is an integral part of the ports' made investments into the building of container terminals, such as the Port of Tallinn owned Muuga port and the private-equity Sillamäe port. Mr Varek says, however, the targeted rail link plan could be upset by Russia.