Minister: North-South project to facilitate Iran -West communication
By Gunay Hasanova
The Transport Corridor "North-South" is not only the shortest overland route connecting the Persian Gulf and Europe but also a corridor that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Iran Islamic Republic, said Transport Minister of Iran Abbas Akhund.
In regional terms, the corridor "North-South" will facilitate communication between Tehran and western neighbors of the Islamic Republic, he added, IRNA news agency reported.
The implementation of the North-South transport corridor project envisages linking-up of railways of Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia. Some five million tons of freight per year is expected to be transported by means of the corridor in the initial stage.
The North-South corridor, from India to Helsinki, with a length of 7,200 kilometers is designed to carry more than 20 million tons per year. It is a multimodal route for transportation of passengers and cargo from Russia's St. Petersburg to the Mumbai port.
Loads on the route will move through the territory of India, and then- the Persian Gulf, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, in the direction of the Nordic countries and Northern Europe in just 14 days.
The North-South route enjoys several advantages compared to other transport corridors; it is more profitable for each parameter than other alternative routes, such as the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea-Northern Europe, and the Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Russia-Northern Europe routes.
The project is of strategic importance for the region.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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