Tehran, Iran, Dec. 21
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Energy resources, such as oil, gas and fuel oil are also among the goods that the North-South transport corridor would be suitable to transfer, Javid Gurbanov, chairman of Azerbaijan Railways, told Trend Dec. 21.
"Iran has everything and these things need to be carried via railway to a great market that includes Azerbaijan, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, and others," he said on the sidelines of the joint Azerbaijan-Iran economic cooperation commission meeting in Tehran.
"The North-South railway, which stretches from India to Europe, can carry 25 million tons of goods per year, while from Iran's Bandar Abbas port only, seven to eight million tons of goods will be provided," Gurbanov further said.
The construction of Astara (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) and Rasht - Astara parts falls within Iran's and Azerbaijan's responsibilities and they are making efforts to build the sections, according to the Azerbaijani official.
Gurbanov said on Dec. 12 that Azerbaijan and Iran would discuss the progress in the construction of the North-South transport corridor during a visit of an Azerbaijani delegation to Tehran.
"Under the instructions of the head of state to accelerate the construction of the Azerbaijani section of the North-South international transport corridor, we will work together with Iran on the construction of a bridge in Astara," Gurbanov said.
"In addition, we will continue our full gauge railway on the territory of Iran, which will simplify the transport of cargo coming from Iran through the territory of Azerbaijan," he added.
The North-South transport corridor will connect northern Europe to South-East Asia.
It will serve as a bridge to connect the railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia.
This project envisages creating a border railway bridge between Iran and Azerbaijan, as well as laying an eight-kilometer branch on Azerbaijan's territory.
According to preliminary estimates, its capacity will be 1.4 million passengers a year. Around 22 tunnels and 15 bridges will be built throughout the path of railway.
Around 15 tunnels have already been constructed.
The volume of cargo transportation through the corridor will amount to six million tons in the initial stage and will reach 15-20 million tons in the future.