Kazakhstan puts international over domestic in new freight priority rules

Kazakhstan is amending rail regulations, which will enter into force on 20 December. Among the changes is a notable prioritisation of freight categories. If there is not enough capacity for all, international freight will get to go first. In his decree, the Kazakh transport minister Nurlan Sauranbayev supplements an earlier ruleset with new provisions detailing the priority of freight. When there is insufficient capacity to meet all rail freight demand, some trains will get priority over others.

It seems to be the first time that Kazakhstan is formalising such rules. In 2024, some prioritisations were put into place for perishables and food products. With this new order, containers and international transit are moved up the list. It also introduces a definition for infrastructure capacity.

On international routes traversing Kazakhstan, such as the Middle Corridor, bottlenecks are the main factor constraining growth. Kazakhstan is working to improve capacity with new infrastructure projects. For example, the country completed a double-tracking project on the Dostyk–Moyynty railway last year.

Still, this has not been enough to eliminate bottlenecks. Freight volumes along the route rose by 22% in the first eight months of 2026. East–west transit through Kazakhstan increased by 55%.

This story was originally published by RailFreight.com. Read the full story at RailFreight.com →