AKTAU (Interfax-Kazakhstan) – The presidents of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Nursultan Nazarbayev and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, opened a new rail line linking their countries’ railroad networks during a ceremony on Saturday.

The line between Bolashak, Kazakhstan, and Serhetyaka, Turkmenistan, means a shorter cargo transportation route between the two countries, according to papers released by the Kazakh government. It will form part of a planned rail corridor to connect Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran and link land and sea freight routes together. Grain, crude oil and oil products will be mostly transported by the Bolashak-Serhetyaka line.