Kazakhstan, Astana, Nov. 2 / corr Trend E.Ismayilov /
The meeting of the Azerbaijani, Iranian and Russian working groups originally scheduled for Nov.3-4 in Tehran under the North-South railway project has been postponed to Nov.20, Azerbaijani State Railway Office Head Nadir Azmammadov said on Nov.2.
"Date of the meeting was adjourned from the beginning of November probably to Nov. 20 upon Iran's initiative," Azmammadov said.
The North-South transport corridor envisages unified railway transportation from Europe to India and Southeast Asia via Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. According to preliminary estimates, the project will cost over $400 million and much work should be done in Iran, which has no rail link to the border with Azerbaijan. Certain work worth about $35-40 million should be conducted in Azerbaijan.
The work to be conducted in Azerbaijan envisages constructing about 8.5 kilometers railway station to the Astara station (Azerbaijan), having a wheel pair change system, border and customs infrastructure. It is also necessary to build a border railway bridge. However, this project will be implemented on a parity basis with Iran.
It is forecasted goods transportation via this corridor will be 5 million tons per year in the first stage and further it is planned to increase to 10-15 million.
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