Azerbaijan, Baku, May 24 / Trend T. Jafarov /
Realization of the project to establish railway communication within the transport corridor "North-South" (Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia) will create the conditions for the transit of 4-6 million tons of cargo through the territory of Azerbaijan and Iran, the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Transportation Director General for International Relations and Technical Service Said Mojtahed Soleimani said in an interview with Trend.
"The construction of the railway station Astara (Azerbaijan)-Astara (Iran) and the implementation of this project gland road Qazvin-Rasht-Astara will create conditions for transit of 4-6 million tons of cargo through the territory of Azerbaijan and Iran. Increasing of the transit of goods will strengthen the cooperation between the three countries in sphere of cargo transportation and transit of goods ", Soleimani said.
He said that at present railway structures of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia are negotiating on the construction of the railway "Qazvin-Rasht-Anzali-Astara" within the corridor "North-South". A model for financing of the project has not been formulated yet.
Now, work on railway construction Qazvin-Rasht, which is financed through the Iranian Ministry of Transport, is being held. The construction will be completed in the nearest future, Soleimani said.
He said that agreements on cooperation in the sphere of transit within the corridor "North-South cooperation" between Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran have strategic importance for the Iranian side.
On the other hand, the construction of a railway station with a length of eight miles on the territory of Azerbaijan in the direction of Astara (Azerbaijan) - Astara (Iran) can enhance transport of transit goods to major North-European countries by railway of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran, a representative of the Iranian Ministry of Transport said.
All the technical work with construction of border rail bridge between Azerbaijan and Iran is completed. Its implementation was agreed with the Azerbaijani side. Experts predict the implementation of this project and putting it into operation within six months. Implementation of this project will create conditions for the transportation of transit cargo from the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and South-East Asia to Russia and the countries of North Europe, Soleimani said.
Soleimani said that Azerbaijan as one of the important participants of the project of transport corridor "North-South" can get full benefit from the work of this corridor. Therefore, the intensification of discussions in implementing of this project between officials of Iran and Azerbaijan has great importance.
The project of transport corridor "North-South" envisages creation of a single railway transportation from Europe through Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran to India and South-East Asia. More than $400 million will be required to implement the project. Most of the work will be done in Iran, which has no rail link to the border with Azerbaijan. Certain work worth $35-40 million should be conducted in Azerbaijan.
The scope of work in the territory of Azerbaijan envisages the construction of the railway station Astara, the station with systems of changing of wheel pairs, border and customs infrastructure. It is necessary to build a border railway bridge. However, this project will be implemented on a parity basis with Iran.
Forecast for the transport of goods via this corridor is made in the first phase worth $5 million tons a year, with a further increase to 10-15 million tons a year.