What happened
On August 28, train X9105 loaded with daily necessities, industrial goods, automobiles and auto parts departed Xi'an International Port and traveled via Kazakhstan's Aktau Port across the Caspian Sea, then by rail from Azerbaijan's Aliat Port to Poti, Georgia. With that departure, China-Europe Railway Express southern corridor trips in 2026 surpassed 600, an 82% jump year on year, described as a transition from the exploratory stage to scale operation.
The southern corridor is built around the Middle Corridor, also called the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. Compared with the traditional route, it does not require a detour via Siberia and is the shortest multimodal trade route between China and Europe, while also reducing exposure to transport risks caused by geopolitical conflicts. Its service network can reach the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and deeper parts of Europe.
Operators also strengthened the corridor's infrastructure and management. A cross-Caspian tracking platform went live on April 1 and was extended on June 1 to cover Azerbaijan, Georgia and full rail and shipping data. On the ground, China Railway Container's Kazakhstan subsidiary added staff and coordination at key border and port points, helping cut transit time on the roughly 3,100-km Altynkol-Aktau trunk corridor to about three days and double efficiency on the Kazakhstan segment.
Why it matters
The corridor has moved from an experimental alternative to a route with measurable reliability. Full-timetable test trains ran from Hefei and Chengdu in July 2026, and a Hefei-to-Tbilisi service has achieved a 14-day transit time, giving shippers a more predictable basis for planning production and delivery schedules.
Rail and sea connections mean the southern corridor is not just a backup to existing northern routes but a strategic expansion of the China-Europe rail system. China Railway Container has outlined four routings, including links via the Trans-Caspian and BTK railway, through Romania and Bulgaria, across Central Asia and West Asia to Turkey, and onward to southern Europe via the Mediterranean.
China Railway Container also took a step into multilateral governance by signing a share-subscription agreement in November 2025 to join the Middle Corridor Multimodal Company, a body established by the railways of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia. This shifts the operator from a participant in corridor services to a co-builder of the rules that coordinate capacity, tariffs and information flows across national borders.
Key facts
Southern corridor trips in 2026 exceeded 600 trains, an 82% increase year on year.
Xi'an-origin trains accounted for more than half of the 600, totaling 320 departures.
The Middle Corridor Multimodal Company is owned equally at 33.33% each by the railways of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia; China Railway Container signed an agreement to join in November 2025.
What to watch next
Whether full-timetable operations, now tested from Hefei and Chengdu, expand to additional hubs such as Xi'an, and whether the model can hold as volumes keep climbing.
Return cargo will be central to balanced growth. The southern corridor began regular operation in 2023 and ran 10 return trains in 2025, so scaling west-to-east flows is likely the next test.
The MCM mechanism's ability to align tariffs, scheduling and data across multiple railway operators will determine how much further the corridor can compress transit time on its rail-sea multimodal network.