New era begins in rail freight transport between Asia and Europe: Turkish minister

Turkish transport and infrastructure minister said on Wednesday that "a new era has begun in the field of rail freight transport between Asia and Europe" thanks to new railway lines.

Adil Karaismailoglu attended an official ceremony of the arrival of Turkey's first China-bound export train in northwestern Chinese city of Xi'an via videoconference, the ministry announced in a written statement.

The Turkish minister said the export train completing its journey and transporting white appliances to China was one of the most significant proofs, marking the beginning of this new epoch.

Karaismailoglu also noted that Turkey's second export train continues its journey to Xi'an, carrying 1,400 white appliances in 42 wagons.

"I believe that new schedules will be exponentially added to these successes," Karaismailoglu pointed out, noting that the number of reciprocal train services between the two countries will be twice a week in 2021.

He said the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line reduced the cargo transportation time between China and Turkey to 12 days, from one month.