The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) recorded a remarkable 36% surge in container traffic in 2025, reaching 76,900 TEU across 433 container trains. The data confirms that the Middle Corridor is rapidly maturing from an alternative route into a primary lane for China-Europe containerized trade.
Of the 433 container trains operating on the route, 400 traveled eastbound to westbound — from China and Central Asia to Europe. This directional imbalance reflects the strong European import demand for Chinese goods that is increasingly being redirected away from Suez-dependent sea lanes and the now-constrained Northern Corridor.
Key performance metrics for the TITR in 2025:
- Total container traffic: 76,900 TEU (+36% year-on-year)
- Container trains operated: 433 (up from 314 in 2024)
- Average transit time (excluding winter): 12–15 days China to Europe
- Kazakhstan freight volumes up 36% on the TITR
- Azerbaijan transported 2.651 million tons Jan–Sep 2025 (+6% YoY)
The transit time improvement is particularly significant. At 12–15 days average for container trains (outside winter months), the Middle Corridor now competes directly on delivery speed with ocean freight lanes — while offering far greater predictability and lower geopolitical exposure. These improvements are the result of coordinated investments in rail capacity, terminal handling speed, and border crossing digitization across all corridor countries.
AJS Logistic has directly benefited from these improvements through our contracted rail capacity and operational presence at key corridor nodes including Port of Poti, Aktau, and Dostyk. Our clients are experiencing measurably faster China-to-Europe transit across our multimodal corridor services.