Russia,Iran to search for additional load for North-South Transport Corridor
By Rashid Shirinov
Russia and Iran have agreed to attract additional volume of railway cargo within the North-South Transport Corridor.
The issue was mulled in Tehran as President of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov met with the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi, and the Head of the Iranian Railways, Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei, Russian Railways reported.
The sides mulled prospects of cooperation between Russia and Iran for developing the Caspian Sea region's railway infrastructure.
Belozerov said that currently, the parties are not fully using their cooperation potential. "Meanwhile, railways of Russia and Iran have experience in joint implementation of infrastructure projects: in 2012, JSC Russian Railways completed the electrification of the Tabriz-Azarshahr railway line," noted Belozerov.
The sides also mulled creation of a direct railway traffic along the west branch of the North-South international transportation corridor. This project envisages the construction of Rasht-Astara railway line, which will link railways of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. The new infrastructure will allow accelerating the delivery of cargos between the countries of Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Southern Asia.
The implementation terms of the electrification project of Garmsar-Ince Burun railway line also was on the agenda of the talks. The railway line has a length of 495 kilometers, 203 kilometers of which pass through the highlands. The modernization of this infrastructure will increase the capacity and speed of trains.
The talks in Tehran ended with signing of a protocol on the main directions of further cooperation between Russian and Iranian Railways. The document was undersigned by Oleg Belozerov and Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei.
The parties agreed to continue to work for the realization of joint projects, to strengthen cooperation and attract additional cargos for the North-South international transport corridor.
The North-South international transport corridor will link Northern Europe and South-East Asia. It will also serve as a bridge to connect the railways of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia
The key aim of the Corridor is to reduce costs in terms of time and money over the traditional route currently being used. The corridor will allow to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali.
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