Baku, Azerbaijan, May 16
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
JSC Russian Railways and Iran have agreed on attraction of railway cargos' additional volume within the North-South transportation corridor project, said the message of Russian Railways.
The meetings of the President of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov with the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi and the Head of the Iranian Railways Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei were held in Tehran, Iran.
Prospects of cooperation between Russia and Iran in development of the Caspian Sea region's railway infrastructure were discussed within the meetings.
Belozerov said that currently, the parties are not fully using their cooperation potential.
"Meanwhile, railways of Russia and Iran have experience in joint implementation of infrastructure projects: in 2012, JSC Russian Railways completed the electrification of the Tabriz-Azarshahr railway line," noted Belozerov.
During the meeting, the sides touched upon the creation of a direct railway traffic along the west branch of the North-South international transportation corridor. This project envisages the construction of Rasht-Astara railway line, which will link railways of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. The new infrastructure will allow accelerating the delivery of cargos between the countries of Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Southern Asia.
The sides also discussed the implementation terms of the electrification project of Garmsar-Ince Burun railway line. The railway line has a length of 495 kilometers, 203 kilometers of which pass through the highlands. The modernization of this infrastructure will increase the capacity and speed of trains.
A protocol on the main directions of further cooperation between Russian and Iranian Railways was signed at the end of the meeting. The document was signed by Oleg Belozerov and Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei. The parties will continue to work for the realization of joint projects, to strengthen cooperation and attract additional cargos for the North-South international transport corridor.
The North-South international transport corridor will link Northern Europe and South-East Asia. It will serve as a bridge to connect the railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.
Initially, up to 3-5 million tons of cargo per year will be transported via the corridor, and the volume will increase up to 10-12 million tons in the future, according to preliminary estimates.
Edited by SI
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