BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 5. During the current Iranian year (March 21, 2025 – March 20, 2026), Iran anticipates transporting 3 million tons of cargo along the eastern branch of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) on its territory, said Jabbar Ali Zakeri, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development and CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, during his visit to Golestan Province in northeastern Iran, where he observed the construction of the Qarasu railway bridge, Trend reports.
Zakeri explained that the Incheh Borun railway line in Golestan serves as a key gateway to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and provides access for neighboring countries to international waters.
“We are working to transport cargo from the eastern Caspian region to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus,” he said.
He also mentioned that railway repairs are ongoing in two sections of western Golestan Province, with one section already completed. Once the second section is finished, the speed of freight and passenger trains will increase.
Zakeri further stated that approximately 200,000 tons of grain were transported via Golestan’s railway network in the previous Iranian year (March 20, 2024 – March 20, 2025). However, the line has the capacity to handle up to 600,000 tons of cargo annually.
The North-South Transport Corridor was officially established on September 12, 2000, through an intergovernmental agreement signed by Russia, Iran, and India. The aim of the corridor is to reduce transit times for goods traveling from India to Russia and onward to Northern and Western Europe, cutting the delivery time from more than six weeks to just three weeks.
The North-South Corridor has three routes through Iran: the eastern route (to Turkmenistan and Central Asia), the central route (through the Caspian Sea to Russia and beyond), and the western route (through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern Europe).
