Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia to jointly invest in Rasht-Astara railroad project construction

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia are going to jointly invest in the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad project, which is in line with the implementation of the International North-South Transport Corridor, Iran’s Roads and Urban Development Deputy Minister Shahriar Afandizadeh said, Azernews reports per Mehrnews.

The minister noted that in the upcoming meeting in Azerbaijan, the process of investment in the construction of the Rasht-Astara railroad project will be discussed.

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. The 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.

The 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.