Azerbaijan joins Viking Train project
By Fatma Babayeva
Azerbaijan has joined the international railway project Viking Train, which will enable to up the country’s trade and transport potential.
A protocol on Azerbaijan Railways' joining the railway project Viking Train was inked on May 13, Nadir Azmammadov, spokesman of Azerbaijan Railways told Trend.
Companies which participate in the project met in Baku on May 12-13, said Azmammadov, adding that this meeting mulled several issues like the final works on the train's operation, the prospects for developing and expanding the piggyback train project, the tariff terms for 2017, the tariffs for export and import operations and the additional services.
Representatives of Azerbaijan Railways, ADY Express Ltd., railway agencies of Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, as well as, the rail freight transporters of Bulgaria and Romania, and other operators of the project took part in the meeting.
The participants of the meeting considered an appeal by Azerbaijan Railways and gave consent to the company's joining the project, and after that the parties signed a corresponding protocol, he added.
It is worth mentioning that the piggyback Viking Train project was launched in 2003. The project's participants are Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia and since 2012 Bulgaria.
The total length of the Ilyichevsk (Ukraine)-Minsk (Belarus)-Draugyste (Lithuania) route is 1,766 kilometers.
In September 2015, the Ukrainian Railways announced about the possibility of cargo transportation by Viking Train from China to Europe.
Azerbaijan’s participation in the Viking project will extend the container train route to more distant Asian countries by providing an alternative route to reach Kazakhstan and China, as well as, more freight will be transported to the Baltic region from Kazakhstan and China, and the new Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be used to transport containers from Turkey to Ukrainian ports.
The Viking project has been recognized as one of the best examples of developing the East-West and North-South transport corridors.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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