From the Baltic States to Almaty, Kazakhstan

The Baltika-Transit container train has become a reliable means of delivering goods from the Baltic ports to the Central Asian republics via a transit route across Russian territory

It was consolidated – and in a way.

The Baltika-Transit route train has been running in scheduled operations since 2003, its departure point being Rezekne (Latvia), located not far from the Russian- Latvian border. At Rezekne, goods arriving via the ports of Riga, Ventspils, Tallinn, Klaipeda and Muuga are consolidated for rail shipment. The train departing from Rezekne twice a week is of standard size, with 57 flatcars capable of carrying containers totalling 80 TEUs. The bulk of the train’s freight consists of consumer goods, such as clothes, footwear and domestic appliances, and also spare parts and components for cars, food products from Europe and the United States, and some other items. To date, there are no «regular » consignors who always account for the bulk of the freight to be forwarded by train; the range of clients is very wide and is always changing.

The train’s operator is FIT Company, a subsidiary of the Russian transport group FESCO (container transportation and logistics). On Latvian territory, the train’s movement is managed by LDZ Cargo, a subsidiary of Latvian Railways. While the train is moving on Latvian territory, payment for its services is made in accordance with the rates laid down in the Uniform Transit Tariff (UTT). From the start to the end of its journey, the train keeps to a timetable that is very much like a traffic schedule for passenger trains.

It takes the Baltika-Transit train one to two hours to pass through Latvian territory. It crosses the Russian-Latvian border at the Sebezh station. From here, without undergoing sorting, the train moves on, without stopping at Moscow, towards the Russian-Kazakh border; it does not stop to re-assemble or take more freight. The key point where the Baltika-Transit train passes in the Russian Railways grid is the border-crossing at Ozinki station, Saratov Region, on the Russian-Kazakh border. The train covers the distance from the Russian-Latvian border to Ozinki in 40 to 43 hours.

Has crossed border – has changed the tariff.

From the moment the train enters the Russian Railways grid, its work is regulated in accordance with the International Customs Tariff (ICT). Boris Lukov, Deputy General Secretary of the Coordination Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation, has told Deliver journal that the ICT requirements are more than favourable for clients of the Baltika-Transit train, and also for the train’s operator. He elaborates: «This tariff and the way it is charged apply to all countries with a 1,520 mm gauge, and to some European Union member states. This makes it possible to simplify the evaluation of the services provided by the route’s operator, and to offer the client clear and trans-parent conditions of price formation and modes of payment. The Uniform Transit Tariff is different – it applies to countries that are members of the Customs Union with respect to imports from foreign countries. Since the Customs Union has fewer member states than the group of countries subject to the International Customs Tariff, it sometimes becomes necessary to recalculate the tariff rates for the transportation of certain types of goods, and this creates a measure of inconvenience for both cargo owner and operator».

Boris Lukov, Deputy General Secretary of the Coordination Council on Trans-Siberian Transportation

Edil Iskakov, Marketing Director of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy National Company, told Deliver journal: «On Kazakh territory, the Baltika-Transit train once again becomes subject to the Uniform Transit Tariff. Throughout its route, it is let through in accordance with the schedule for passenger trains.

Kazakh Railways’ infrastructural capabilities allow high-speed container trains to cover 1,000 km a day in its railway grid. Thus, we have been able to reduce the Baltika-Transit train’s total running time on Kazakh territory to 48–50 hours. As we see it, the Baltika-Transit train project is interesting for potential clients and lucrative for us. The popularity of this train is largely due to the fact that Germany and Poland, in spite of the current global crisis, have retained high tariffs. Consequently, European companies that export their products to Russia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia use sea routes and the Baltic ports. After freight consolidation, the train’s operator can offer clients acceptable tariffs. That is why despite the current hardships in international trade, the Baltika-Transit train has not curtailed its operations as compared with the pre-crisis period. We hope that in partnership with Russian Railways, Latvian Railways and the Baltika-Transit train operators, this train will succeed in retaining its freight volumes, restoring their growth upon improvement of the general situation in world trade».

Freight volumes: 2006 – 10,147 TEUs 2007 – 21,933 TEUs 2008 – 15,522 TEUs

Edil Iskakov, Marketing Director of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy National Company

And back – metal. Edil Iskakov added that the key points on the Baltika-Transit train’s route in the Kazakh Railway grid are the stations Iletsk, Aktobe, Kzyl-Orda, Arys, Chu and Almaty-1. He elaborated: «The first station through which the train passes on Kazakh territory is the border-area railway junction Iletsk. Redistribution of the goods, if required by the client, takes place mostly at railway station Arys. Here some of the containers can be forwarded to Central Asia via Tashkent. Forwarding can also take place at railway station Aktobe, if the train is carrying containers whose receivers are located in West Kazakhstan, in the cities of Atyrau and Aktay.

Moreover, we are checking out schemes to forward freight via the major junction station Turkestan, located not far from Kazakhstan’s southern border. Upon the train’s arrival at its final destination, the Kazakh city of Almaty, the containers are unloaded and placed in the station’s container yard, from where they will be delivered by road transport to the final recipients.

This freight consists of ferrous metals and cotton, which the train carries from Kazakhstan and Central Asia to Europe

«The Baltika-Transit train’s route might be extended into China. This subject was on the agenda of last year’s Conference on the Development of International Eurasian Container Lines, held in Urumchi, located in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. The extension would guarantee return-journey load for practically every container brought by the train. At present, there is a limited amount of return-journey freight for the Baltic-Transit train; this freight consists of ferrous metals and cotton, which the train carries from Kazakhstan and Central Asia to Europe». Kaztransservice’s head of container operations, Marat Baiturenov, notes that already today, containers whose route takes them to Almaty go back to the Baltic states with ferroalloys loaded at stations Aksu and Zhenishke. He adds: «As regards extension of the Baltika-Transit route to Urumchi, this is quite a real prospect in the development of the Baltika-Transit project. What is more, this route could reach the Chinese cities of Lianyungang and Tsingtao. Understandably, the extension project has to be discussed in detail with potential clients – the cargo owners. But considering that China’s ports have practically retained their volumes of container shipment, the possibility of finding return-journey freight is real».