Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17
By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
Azerbaijan and Iran decided to accelerate construction of the Astara (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) railway line and connecting the railways of the two countries, Mohammadali Najafi, the governor of the Iranian province of Gilan, said, Gilan administration reported Sept. 17.
Najafi said that this issue was discussed at a meeting with participation of Iran's Minister of Communication and Information Technologies and co-chairman of the Iran-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission Mahmoud Vaezi.
"The length of the Astara (Azerbaijan) - Astara (Iran) railway is 7 kilometers," he said. "Its two-kilometer section is being built on the territory of Iran. A decision was made at the meeting to build a cargo terminal in Iran's Astara."
He said that Iran is interested in the rapid construction of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway.
"This railway will facilitate the way from Central Asia and Europe to the Persian Gulf and connect Iran with these regions and the Caucasus," Najafi said.
He also said that previously, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani instructed to complete the railway construction in 2016.
Earlier, Iranian officials stated that the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway would be constructed in 2014.
The Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway is part of the North-South transport corridor.
The investments made in the construction are estimated at $ 400 million.
At the initial stage, it is planned to transport 6 million metric tons per year and up to 15-20 million metric tons per year in the future.
Edited by CN
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