INTERNATIONAL: On November 7 a timetable for the establishment of jointly-owned intermodal freight operator United Transport & Logistics Co was agreed in Astana by President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin, First Deputy Head of Belarusian Railways Vladimir Mikhailyuk and President of Kazakh national railway KTZ Askar Mamin.
UTLC is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2014. Its business plan expects traffic to exceed 4 million TEU in 2020.
In response to China's Chongqing province's expressing interest in the immediate use of rail transport to link China with Europe via Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus, the railways agreed in principle to offer a single flat rate per kilometre for transit container traffic.
