Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 12 /Trend, E.Ismayilov/
The variant of the route of North-South transport corridor, passing through Azerbaijan, is more preferable, the head of Azerbaijan Railways JSC Arif Askerov said in Baku on Tuesday.
According to Askerov, primarily it is due to shorter distance compared with other variants, availability of infrastructure and only one transit country.
The variant of the route, which passes through Azerbaijan, envisages connecting rail systems of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran. In total, this project involves investment of $400 million, with more investment needed to carry out works on the territory of Iran. The Qazvin-Rasht-Astara stretch over 350 kilometers is expected to be constructed here.
Works on the territory of Azerbaijan total $35-40 million. The road a little more than eight km, the bridge over Astarachay River will be built, an appropriate customs infrastructure will be created here.
According to first vice-president of Russian Railways JSC Vadim Morozov, three routes are envisaged within the North-South corridor. In particular, the first route - via Azerbaijan, the second - through the territory of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, and the third option, using the Caspian ports such as Astrakhan, Makhachkala and others. Morozov also said most perspective option for the corridor passes through the territory of Azerbaijan.