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Three presidents inaugurated the project together in December 2024 — now, more than 5,000 workers are drilling 29 tunnels through the highest mountains of Central Asia to create the first direct railway connection between China and Kyrgyzstan, a route that shortens the journey between Asia and Europe by up to 10 days
According to a report from Times of Central Asia in March 2026, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway (CKU) has officially entered the active construction phase.
The project connects Kashgar in China to Andijan in Uzbekistan, crossing 305 kilometers of mountainous terrain in Kyrgyzstan.
This is the first railway that directly connects China to Central Asia — and it can shorten the transit time for goods between Asia and Europe by up to 10 days, avoiding the traditional route through Russia.
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A $4.7 billion railway crossing mountains
The project has a total length of 523 kilometers, divided among the three countries: 158 km in China, 305 km in Kyrgyzstan, and 69 km in Uzbekistan.
The total cost is $4.7 billion, as reported by Rail Journal.
China finances 51% of the project: $2.3 billion in a 35-year low-interest loan and an additional $1.2 billion in direct investment.
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each receive 24.5% — about $573 million per country.
- 523 km total length (3 countries)
- 29 tunnels totaling 120 km (~40% of the route is underground)
- 50 bridges over rivers and valleys
- $4.7 billion total investment
- 15 million tons/year cargo capacity
- 5,000+ workers and 5,600 equipment on site
40% of the railway is under mountains
The biggest technical challenge of the CKU is the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.
Of the 305 kilometers of railway in the country, about 120 are in tunnels — almost 40% of the entire route.
The three largest tunnels are between 12 and 13 kilometers each.
The Naryn tunnel, at the Jaman-Davan pass, is 12.5 km long and is being excavated at over 3,000 meters altitude.
The earthworks have already exceeded 3.5 million cubic meters of rock removed — and the project has barely begun.
Moreover, there is a technical issue that few mention: China uses a gauge of 1,435 mm (international standard), while Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan use 1,520 mm (Soviet legacy).
Thus, all cargo will need to be transferred at a transshipment hub in the city of Makmal, Kyrgyzstan.
While in Brazil railways wait decades
The comparison is inevitable.
In Brazil, the Transnordestina — a 1,200-kilometer railway — was originally planned in the 1950s and is still not ready, even after seven decades of promises.
The CKU railway was also first discussed in the 1990s, shortly after the independence of the Central Asian republics.
But while the Transnordestina has stalled for 67 years amid bureaucracy, corruption, and lack of resources, the CKU has moved from paper to 5,000 workers drilling mountains in less than three years after the 2022 agreement.
In December 2024, Presidents Xi Jinping, Sadyr Japarov, and Shavkat Mirziyoyev jointly inaugurated the project in Jalalabad. Three months later, 5,000 workers were already drilling mountains.
China has done something similar in Laos: a $6 billion railway that transformed the landlocked country into an Asian corridor, with over 70 million trips and trade surging by 627%.
A new Silk Road — without passing through Russia
According to The Diplomat, the CKU has a geopolitical component that goes beyond logistics.
So far, the main railway route between China and Europe passes through Kazakhstan and Russia.
With Western sanctions on Russia since 2022, the demand for alternative routes has exploded.
The CKU offers exactly that: a path that connects China, Central Asia, and, via Uzbekistan, reaches Iran, Turkey, and Europe — without stepping on Russian territory.
According to an analysis by Caspian Policy Center, in 2024 the freight volume between China and Kazakhstan had already reached 32 million tons — and the CKU could absorb up to 47% of that traffic.
What could go wrong
The project carries decades of skepticism.
The first discussions began in the 1990s, and a memorandum of understanding was signed in 1997 — but it was never implemented.
Moreover, the expected completion varies between 2026 (optimistic) and 2030 (realistic). The initial phase will be a single line, without electrification.
There is also the debate about who really benefits: China gains direct access to Central Asian and European markets, but the smaller countries become dependent on Chinese financing.
Additionally, the CKU railway has an economic component that goes beyond cargo transport.
In this sense, for Kyrgyzstan — a mountainous country without access to the sea — the railway represents the first direct connection to the world’s largest market.
Similarly, Kyrgyz agricultural producers who currently rely on precarious road routes will be able to export directly to China and, via Uzbekistan, to the Middle East and Europe.
However, there are those who question whether the benefits will truly be shared. China finances 51% of the project and controls the railway technology — including the 1,435 mm gauge that favors connection with its domestic network.
Therefore, the CKU is both a historic opportunity for Central Asia and a test for the Chinese infrastructure model: genuine cooperation or disguised dependence on partnership?
Above all, the speed of execution is impressive. While Brazil debates railways for decades, China moves from a memorandum of understanding to five thousand workers drilling mountains in less than three years.
Furthermore, the railway also has implications for Kyrgyzstan’s agribusiness, which relies on slow road routes to export nuts, fruits, and cotton. Thus, with the CKU, these products can reach Chinese and European markets at drastically lower costs and times.
In this sense, for an economy that heavily depends on remittances from workers abroad, the railway could diversify the country’s income sources and reduce Kyrgyzstan’s economic vulnerability.
The question that diplomats in the region are asking is: will the CKU be a corridor of shared prosperity or yet another artery through which Chinese influence flows in one direction?
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