First export train to China passes through Ankara

By Arife Yildiz Unal

ANKARA (AA) – The Silk Route train connecting Turkey to China passed through Ankara on Monday.

This new connectivity project called Iron Silk Road or Central Corridor is delivering its first export cargo through railway from Turkey to China, which is a short, safe, economical, and climate-friendly corridor between the Asian and European continents.

The train with a total length of 754 meters, is on the track with 42 containers of white goods, carrying 1,400 coolers produced in Turkey. It is expected to reach China in approximately 12 days.

The Silk Road train will cover 2,323 kilometers (1,443 miles) of track in Turkey on the evening of Dec. 8 and will continue on its way to China by tracking on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line.

The international track will end in China's city Xi'an by crossing Georgia, Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea Crossing, and Kazakhstan.

The train will cover a total of 8,693 km (5401 mi), traversing two continents, passing through two seas and five countries.

The railway will reduce the transportation time between China and Turkey from one month to a mere 12 days, while the whole road from Xian to Prague will take 18 days.

*Writing by Yunus Girgin in Ankara