Chengdu, Sichuan
A western Chinese rail hub; the route runs north-west to Khorgos before it turns towards the Caspian.
Turkey · Middle Corridor rail from Chengdu
Rail from Chengdu to Istanbul via Khorgos, the Caspian Sea and Akhalkalaki
Chengdu to Istanbul
Chengdu · Khorgos · Kuryk · Alat · Tbilisi · Kars · Istanbul
- ChengduChina origin
- KhorgosBorder crossing
- Kuryk
- Alat
- Tbilisi
- KarsBorder crossing
- IstanbulDestination
Turkey is where this corridor gets a different gauge, a different rulebook and a tunnel under the Bosphorus that does not take dangerous goods. For a lithium load from Chengdu the last 1,000 km can be harder to plan than the first 4,000.
Five points for the Turkish end of the Middle Corridor follow. Lithium batteries are screened case by case and depend on the operators and on Turkish and Chinese acceptance.
What we need to start
- Two gauge changes in the plan
- Marmaray exclusion
- TCDD permission
- Turkish broker
- Class 9 declaration
Route profile
How Chengdu → Istanbul differs from other lanes
Khorgos – Kuryk – Alat – Tbilisi – Akhalkalaki – Kars – Istanbul
Kazakh rail, a Caspian crossing, Azerbaijani and Georgian rail, the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars line, then Turkish rail to the Istanbul area.
Where this route gets difficult
What to watch between Chengdu and Istanbul: 5 points
They run from the Chinese origin station to the border, through the transit countries and to the consignee.
- Marmaray
The tunnel under the Bosphorus carries freight at night and not dangerous goods
Rail Cargo Group's information sheet says freight trains run through Marmaray at night and describes them as free of dangerous goods; the operator applies to TCDD for permission to run.1 The tunnel connects Halkalı on the European side with Gebze on the Anatolian side.2 A lithium container is dangerous goods in most cases, so a plan that relies on the tunnel to reach European Turkey needs another answer.
What Anxin does: We ask the Turkish broker early whether the consignee is on the Anatolian or the European side and plan the last leg by road or another route if the tunnel is not available.
- Akhalkalaki
The broad gauge of the South Caucasus meets Turkey's standard gauge at one station
The OECD describes a transhipment terminal at Akhalkalaki in Georgia that lets containers change platform wagons between the broad gauge used in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and the standard gauge used in Türkiye, and notes that firms report bottlenecks there and seasonal difficulties between Kars and Akhalkalaki in heavy winter conditions.3 Rail Turkey reported that bogie exchange started at the same station so that wagons from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan can cross into Turkey without the load being handled, with a capacity of 14 wagons at once.4
What Anxin does: We ask the operator whether its wagon is handled by transhipment or bogie exchange, and we do not state a transfer time.
- Origin crossing
Khorgos side-tracks regular trains to let priority trains pass
CAREC's 2022 monitoring found that at Horgos regular corridor trains were side-tracked to let high-priority Eurasian container expresses pass.5 That measurement is dated, but it describes the kind of event a lithium container on a standard service can face before it ever reaches the Caspian.
What Anxin does: We ask the operator how a dangerous-goods wagon is prioritised at Khorgos and record the answer.
- Turkish rail rules
TCDD decides what is accepted outside RID's definitions
TCDD's general order on rail carriage of dangerous goods applies to domestic and international carriage and says that dangerous goods whose properties and manner of carriage are not defined in the order or in RID can be accepted on TCDD lines only with the permission of the TCDD General Directorate.6 Turkey has also been an ADR contracting party since 22 February 2010,7 so the last road leg is under European road rules.
What Anxin does: We ask the Turkish broker which UN numbers and packages TCDD has accepted for similar loads and what document it needs.
- Documents
One consignment note may not cover the whole corridor
The CIM/SMGS consignment note was created so that a note does not have to be rewritten at the reconsignment point, and dangerous goods can only be accepted if they satisfy both RID and SMGS.8 The manual applies only to the traffic axes listed in its appendix,8 and we do not assume that this Middle Corridor axis is covered; there is no single legal regime for Euro-Asian rail.9
What Anxin does: We ask the operator which consignment documents it issues for the Caspian and Caucasus legs and who is the carrier at each stage.
Documents & compliance
Documents to line up for Chengdu → Istanbul
These documents come from the shipper, the manufacturer, the operators and the consignee. Anxin checks them against each other; it does not issue test reports, safety data sheets or import certificates.
At Chengdu
- Chinese rail documents from the maker
- State of charge, Wh and test summary
- Load plan and packing photos
Across the corridor
- Operator for each leg named
- Wagon type for the Akhalkalaki exchange
- Caspian ship acceptance
In Turkey
- TCDD acceptance of the UN number
- Side of the Bosphorus for delivery
- ADR haulier for the last leg
Risk & mitigation
What could go wrong between Chengdu and Istanbul, and who acts
| Risk | Where | Mitigation | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dangerous goods not accepted in Marmaray | Istanbul | Last leg planned around the tunnel | Turkish broker |
| Wagon not accepted for bogie exchange | Akhalkalaki | Wagon type confirmed in advance | Operator |
| Train side-tracked behind priority trains | Horgos | Operator confirmation recorded | Operator |
| Consignment note not valid across legs | Whole corridor | Document set confirmed per leg | Operator / Anxin |
Questions
Chengdu → Istanbul: questions we are asked
One operator's information sheet describes its Marmaray freight trains as free of dangerous goods.1 A lithium load is therefore screened case by case before any plan relies on the tunnel.
Georgia's line and the Turkish line differ, and bogie exchange is done at Akhalkalaki.4
Yes. Turkey has been a party since 22 February 2010.7
By sea instead
Compare with sea freight from China
Nine Chinese ports, one hub
Sea freight leaves from Shenzhen, Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Dalian and Lianyungang. See all sea routes from China. The sea route pages also cover Shenzhen to Turkey.
Each mode accepts lithium batteries on its own terms
Rail, road and sea operators apply different acceptance rules, and a shipment that is refused on one mode can sometimes be planned on another. We screen the cargo first and name the mode afterwards.
References
Where these points come from
- Uninterrupted transport of freight trains between Europe and Asia (Marmaray Tunnel information sheet) (Rail Cargo Group)
- Marmaray Tunnel: seamless transport between continents (Rail Cargo Group, 2024)
- Realising the Potential of the Middle Corridor (OECD)
- Bogie exchange started at Akhalkalaki (Rail Turkey, 27 June 2018)
- CAREC Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring, 2022 report: Rail transport (CAREC Program)
- Tehlikeli maddelerin demiryoluyla taşınması, yüklenmesi, boşaltılması ve depolanmasına ait Genel Emir (TCDD) (TCDD via UTIKAD)
- Status of ADR – United Nations Treaty Collection, chapter XI-B-14 (United Nations Treaty Collection)
- CIM/SMGS Consignment Note Manual (GLV-CIM/SMGS), edition of 12 December 2025 (CIT – International Rail Transport Committee)
- ECE/TRANS/SC.2/2022/3: legal regimes for Euro-Asian rail transport (UNECE)
Next step
Ask about Chengdu → Istanbul (Turkey)
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After you send it
We check operator and country acceptance for Chengdu → Istanbul before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.
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