Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.13 / Trend, A.Akhundov /
If railway transport will be ensured between Azerbaijan's Astara station and Iran's railways, the Azerbaijani version of the route of the "North-South" transport corridor, intended to connect Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran's railways, will be shorter than other routes by 550-1,550 km, Chairman of the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD) Tadeusz Szozda said during his speech at the business forum "Strategic Partnership 1520: The Caucasus region" dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the Azerbaijani railways.
According to him, the problem with this version f the route of the "North-South" transport corridor is the lack of rail communication between Azerbaijan and Iran.
"As freight on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border are redirected from railway to car transportation, term of goods delivery increases," Szozda said.
The delay in the implementation of the North-South railway project designed to connect the railways of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran, is due to problems that exist in Iran, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said Oct.12.
"Azerbaijan has no problems in the North-South corridor. The problem is in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian side should accelerate the process of construction of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway section," he said.
Mammadov said railway section lengths 365 kilometers should be constructed for that the Iranian side connected to this railway. Only eight kilometers of the railway should be constructed on the territory of Azerbaijan.
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 cost $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.