New Railway to Connect China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan

After a long search to line up financing, officials from China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have signed an investment agreement to build a railway that could reduce costs and cut transit times for Westward-bound freight rail traffic. But it is still going to be years before the first freight train rolls on the new route, and the route’s profit potential remains uncertain.

In his New Year’s address, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, long the railway’s most ardent proponent, portrayed the route as an economic game-changer for the Central…