BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 17. Because of its geostrategic position, Azerbaijan plays a crucial role in the North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and East-West or Trans Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) international transport corridors, Rauf Aghamirzayev, expert in transport and logistics, told Trend.
He noted that cargo transportation along the INSTC has seen a significant increase in recent years.
"Considering this, the state is undertaking several projects, including the reconstruction of the Astara terminal. This work was necessary because of the surge in cargo traffic. To meet demand, the reconstruction aimed to organize the cargo flow in the southern direction. In 2017, Azerbaijan leased 35 hectares of land in Iran's Astara for 25 years and built a terminal there. The ongoing reconstruction of the Astara terminal in Azerbaijan will also enhance its cargo handling capacity. The Astara terminal will initially handle up to 1 million tons of cargo per year, with projections to increase this to 4 million tons once the project is complete," he said.
Discussing the repair works on the Sumgayit-Yalama railroad, the expert noted that electrification is expected to be completed by 2028.
Additionally, plans call for the construction of the Yalama-2 and Samur-2 stations on the Russian side of the border, which will allow for the handling of 15 million tons of cargo by 2025. Currently, Yalama station can accommodate about 10 pairs of trains (approximately 11 million tons of cargo per year) in one direction per day. These infrastructure projects will boost freight traffic along the INSTC. We expect the corridor to handle up to 30 million tons of cargo by 2030. Azerbaijan is also working on diversifying its routes. For instance, the Horadiz-Agbend railway and the construction of a new highway in the Iranian direction through the Araz River will provide an alternative route for the INSTC, extending beyond Astara to Julfa," he explained.
Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY) has successfully completed the reconstruction of a cargo warehouse in Azerbaijan's Astara district to enhance cargo transportation along the INSTC. In this area, the State Customs Committee's Astara Customs Department has organized customs control.
Until now, multimodal transportation services along the INSTC have been provided solely at the ADY terminal in Iran's Astara. The agreement to construct this terminal was signed in 2017, with transshipment operations beginning in 2018. Construction at the terminal is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Once the Astara-Resht railway line in Iran becomes operational, transit cargo volumes through both Astara terminals should significantly increase.
The Astara terminal in Iran, operational since 2018, handled over 2.5 million tons of cargo through Astara Terminal LLC between 2018 and 2023. During this period, the annual cargo volume more than tripled, rising from 211,789 tons in 2018 to 692,402 tons in 2023, a 48 percent increase from 2022. In the first four months of 2024, the terminal handled 284,688 tons of cargo, marking a 14 percent increase over the same period in 2023.
From January through April 2024, ADY's transit freight traffic rose by 14 percent year-on-year to 2.517 million tons. During this period, freight traffic along the INSTC increased by 29 percent compared to the same four months last year, reaching 260,000 tons.
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