Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 5
Trend:
At the meeting of Azerbaijani, Russian and Iranian presidents, to be held Aug. 8 in Baku, the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC), which connects the three countries, is likely to be one of the main topics of discussions, said Deputy Head of Azerbaijan Railways Igbal Huseynov in an exclusive interview with Trend.
Huseynov said Azerbaijan is particularly interested in the project.
“Azerbaijan, located on the crossroads of the two major international transportation corridors – from North to South and from East to West, has over centuries strategically played the role of a bridge,” he noted.
“Forecasts show that once fully commissioned, the North-South corridor will create access opportunities to the Persian Gulf and India for European countries, Russia, the Caucasus region and Central Asia, as well as for intensification of trade relations between the Caspian countries and the Black Sea ports,” added Huseynov.
He noted that currently launching the first train from India to Russia through Iran and Azerbaijan as a part of the project is on the agenda.
“Railway authorities of Azerbaijan and Russia, as a part of the North-South project’s development, agreed to cooperate in luring freight traffic through transportation via the India-Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia route and vice versa,” said Huseynov. “Russian Railways Logistics JSC and ADY Express LLC will be the project’s logistics operators.”
He added that currently cargos from India to Russia’s European part are delivered via the sea, called the route “A”.
“The route from Nhava Sheva Port (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) to Moscow takes about 40 days,” explained Huseynov. “The new multi-modal route “B” includes the use of the sea, railway and motor transportation, and will allow reducing the time of cargo delivery by more than twice. This [cargo delivery] period will be 14 days.”
He added that according to common agreement, the first test train will depart from Mumbai on this route in the coming months.
“The train will deliver cargo to Moscow according to the tariff agreed upon by concrete participants of the corridor,” said Huseynov.
He said that on June 2, Russia’s Sochi hosted a meeting of heads of railway authorities of Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran and Finland - Javid Gurbanov, Oleg Belozerov, Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei and Mikael Aro within the 11th International Rail Business Forum.
“During the negotiations, it was decided on the proposal made by Javid Gurbanov to establish a coordinating committee on the North-South project by the example of the Trans-Caspian transport route, in order to accelerate the corridor’s development,” Huseynov said.
“A single competitive tariff may be applied in the future on the North-South route,” he said. “The issue of Finland’s involvement in the project was discussed at the same meeting. The representative of Finland said his country is interested in the transportation corridor. Finland’s joining this project will further strengthen the corridor’s potential.”
Huseynov said the Rasht-Astara railway will be constructed under the joint cooperation of Azerbaijani and Iranian companies, and the two countries will be investing in this project.
“It is expected that the document on this cooperation will be discussed at a meeting in Baku, which will become the beginning of a new stage,” said Huseynov.
He noted that implementation of the North-South project will play an important role in expanding relations between Azerbaijan and Iran.
In accordance with the decree of Azerbaijani president regarding the acceleration of work on the project, an excavation work is currently underway at an 8.3-kilometer section of the railroad from Azerbaijan’s Astara up to the border with Iran.
“The work continues to lay concrete, transfer water, electricity and gas lines,” said Huseynov. “As many as 315 different facilities, including 10 residential buildings, which are to be transferred, are located in the territory, and the transfer of 104 facilities has been completed.”
At the same time, construction of an 82.5-meter railway bridge on the border of Azerbaijan and Iran over the Astarachay River is continuing, according to him.
“Thirty-two piles have been installed at a depth of 32 meters, piers of two spans of the bridge have been built, and two more piers are being constructed,” said Huseynov.
It is planned to commission the railway section stretching from Azerbaijan’s Astara to the border with Iran and the railway bridge before late 2016.
