Globalization! Six countries reach a unified agreement on railway transport tariffs

Against the background of geo-economic restructuring and transformation of Eurasian land logistics chain, the railway departments of six countries, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Iran and China, recently reached an agreement on railway transport tariffs in Tehran.

This agreement not only injects institutional dividends into the development of the East-Central Line of the China-Europe Corridor, but also heralds the entry of the regional logistics coordination mechanism into a new stage.

Multilateral railway tariff agreement reached in Tehran

At the multilateral railway conference held in Tehran, representatives of the railway departments of the six countries negotiated on the freight rates of the China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey/Europe railway corridor.

And finally approved a unified and coordinated competitive tariff plan.

In addition to tariffs, the parties also reached an agreement on transportation timeliness standards, process simplification and service coordination, providing a policy basis for achieving efficient cross-border transportation.

This railway corridor is the "East-Central Line" of land transportation between China and Europe. In recent years, it has been highly valued due to multiple international factors.

Compared with the traditional Russian meridian, this corridor avoids geopolitically sensitive areas and has stronger traffic certainty and institutional flexibility.

Kazakhstan data shows that in the first four months of 2025, the volume of container transportation from China to Iran through this corridor increased by 2.6 times year-on-year, reflecting the rapid increase in market acceptance of this route.

The six countries work together to release the dividend of interconnection

The unified tariff mechanism reached this time is another milestone for the countries along the route to promote infrastructure interconnection and coordinated development of logistics.

Especially driven by the "Belt and Road" initiative and the regional integration strategy of Central Asian countries, relevant railway operating companies are accelerating investment in modern freight stations and promoting the deployment of digital customs declaration platforms to meet the needs of more efficient channel operation.

It is expected that the corridor will gradually become a strategic pillar in the China-Europe land transportation system.

From coordinating freight rates to unifying service standards, the Tehran meeting marks that the "East-Central Line" is moving from path selection to institutional construction, reflecting the diversification and efficiency trend of the Eurasian Continental Bridge.

The coordinated efforts of the six countries are pushing this corridor out of a new track driven by rules and efficiency.