Express rail service starts between Georgia and Kazakhstan

Express rail service starts between Georgia and Kazakhstan    Istanbul-based freight forwarder Advance International has begun to market a new express rail freight service between the Central Asian countries of Georgia and Kazakhstan.
   Advance International said the service, operated between Poti in Georgia and Almaty in Kazakhstan, offers shippers an alternative to limited road and river transport in the region.
   Advance International will market the Poti-Almaty service with an eight-day transit time, although a recent test shipment revealed the transit could be completed in six days. “This was the fastest ever cargo delivery overland from any international sea port to Almaty,” the company said in a statement.
   “Initially, the service will operate weekly,” Advance International said. “But with traffic to Kazakhstan growing rapidly, the plan is to increase frequency to five departures a week by the end of 2006.”
   In addition, in six months, the company plans to extend the service eastward from Almaty to the northwest Chinese city of Urumqi. Advance International said this would potentially provide a freight link from this inland region of China to the Black Sea port of Poti and then by feeder ships to Europe and the U.S. East Coast.
   The service will be marketed by Poti-based Black Sea Transit Ltd. and Advantage International Transport & Logistics Ltd., a subsidiary of Advance International.