BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 11
By Sadraddin Agjayev - Trend:
Intensive work is underway within the International North-South Transport Corridor, which is one of the main international transit routes, a source in the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC told Trend.
The project is currently at the second stage of implementation, according to the source.
“One of the major infrastructure projects implemented along this route was the construction of the Astara cargo terminal, located 1.5 kilometers from the Azerbaijani-Iranian border,” the source said. “Two years ago, upon completion of the first stage of construction, the terminal accepted the first cargo train. The cargo train along the Astara (Azerbaijan) - Astara (Iran) route entered the territory of the terminal where it was unloaded, so the Astara terminal began its activities.”
The source also noted that the construction of the Astara terminal has been carried out by the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC in accordance with the bilateral agreement of June 13, 2017.
“A common cargo terminal has already been built at the Astara terminal complex and 1,800 meters of internal terminal tracks have been laid,” said the source. “In addition, a platform with an area of 1,440 square meters for transshipment of goods has been built at the terminal. In the near future, four more branch lines will be built at the terminal, the length of the platform and the site for transshipment of goods will be increased.”
“Regarding the volumes of cargo transshipment, in 2019, nearly 400,000 tons of cargo were transshipped by ADY Express,” the source added. At the same time, from the moment the terminal began to operate, for 2018-2019, almost 700,000 tons of cargo were transshipped via the terminal.”
“In January 2020, about 38,000 tons of cargo were transshipped via the Astara terminal,” added the source. “After carrying out all the planned work, an increase in the volume of goods passing through the terminal is expected.”