Azerbaijan to expand railway capacity in North-South corridor to 5 mln tpy by 2028

KAZAN. May 18 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan plans to complete the modernization of railway infrastructure for the North-South international transport corridor (ITC) by 2028 to increase its throughput capacity to 5 million tonnes of freight per year, Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev said on Friday.

"As part of the implementation of the agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan and Russia on cooperation to develop transit freight shipments along the North-South ITC, the Azerbaijani side is carrying out all prescribed work to expand the capacity of railway infrastructure. The work is scheduled for completion by 2028. Throughput capacity will increase to 5 million tonnes per year with a future increase to 15 million tonnes," Mustafayev said at the plenary session of the Russia-Islamic World forum in Kazan.

He also noted the importance of building a terminal in Astara on the border with Iran and currently lacking Rasht-Astara railway line, which will give the North-South corridor direct access to Persian Gulf ports.

Russia and Iran began survey work for the construction of the Rasht-Astara rail line, which will become part of the North-South corridor, in May 2025. Russian Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin said in March that Russia is not abandoning plans to implement the North-South international transport corridor project in Iran and expects to continue work after the conflict in the Middle East ends.

Russia, Iran and India signed an agreement to create the North-South multimodal corridor in 2000 and 12 countries are now involved in the project. The corridor has three routes, two running along the western and eastern coasts of the Caspian Sea and the Trans-Caspian route across the sea.