BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 20. Iran's main priority is to improve its railway lines within the framework of international corridors, Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash told reporters, Trend reports citing the ministry.
The minister noted that Iran attaches great importance to the North-South and East-West international corridors and gradually puts its railway lines on these corridors into use.
Bazrpash also added that there was a problem with financing the construction of some parts, including within the Rasht-Astara railway line. In this regard, discussions with Russia have been ongoing for some time.
“The Russian side has already submitted its proposals to the Iranian side and we are considering the proposals. Soon, the representative of Iran will visit Russia to hold final discussions,” he said.
The foundation of the ‘International North-South Transport Corridor’ was laid on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000. In total, 13 countries have ratified the agreement, including Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Russia, Türkiye, etc.
The purpose of creating a corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to North and West Europe. Delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, it is expected to be reduced to 3 weeks via North-South Transport Corridor.
Iran's 175 km-long Qazvin-Rasht railway was officially put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network within the corridor. In addition, the 167 km long Rasht-Astara railway line must be built in Iran.
According to the Iranian side, a total of 200 trillion rials (about $4.76 billion) is needed for the construction of this railway line.
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