[Railfreight.com reports](Railfreight.com) that Kyrgyzstan has drilled the first of 28 planned tunnels of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan rail route. The drilling of the 209-meter tunnel began in June 2025. The future rail corridor will be 1,000 kilometers shorter than the existing “Middle Corridor” through Kazakhstan and will reduce rail transport time by 7 days. The corridor will also have 43 bridges, the journal reports.