17 The project is being hailed by officials as a game-changer for Central Asia, with claims that it will reduce freight transit times between China and Europe by up to eight days and shorten the overall route by roughly 900 kilometres. The CKU railway, with an estimated cost of $8 billion, will see $4.7 billion allocated to the Kyrgyz section alone. Construction is slated to begin in late 2024. Leaders in China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan have framed the CKU railway as a transformative venture,