Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 30
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
President Hassan Rouhani said his country in collaboration with Azerbaijan will launch the construction of Rasht-Astara railway in northern Iran soon.
He made the remarks upon arrival in the Rasht airport, as part of his provincial visit.
Describing the issue of the construction of Rasht-Astara railway as "significant", President Rouhani added that he had discussed the issue of International North-South Transportation Corridor with Russian officials during his recent visit to Moscow, IRNA news agency reported.
According to the president, the construction of Qazvin-Rasht railway is also going through final phases and it is expected to be inaugurated over the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20-21).
Explaining that Iran’s southern port-city of Bandarabbas will be connected to Moscow once the railway project is completed, he said that the corridor will facilitate carrying cargos from “the Indian Subcontinent”.
To complete the railway links of the transportation corridor, Iran had earlier agreed to construct inland railway segments in northern parts of the country in order to extend its railway network to the border area with the neighboring Azerbaijan through the two cities of Astara on both
sides.
The initial plan included Qazvin-Rasht and Rasht-Astara railway segments.
In the meantime, Azerbaijan has launched a construction project to extend its railway into Iran’s territory which is going through the final tests and will be implemented soon.
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