In January to February 2009, cargo transportation by vehicles made up 26.9mln tons of cargo, or 0.3% more than the same period of 2008. Passenger transportation totaled 200.4mln people or 7.7% more than January-February 2009 indicator. The share of private sector in the passenger transportation made up 81.6%. The passenger transportation by cars made up 81.7%, metro - 17.7%. The private sector share in cargo transportation was 71.4% due to efficient operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
In January to February 2009, cargo transportation by vehicles made up 12.4mln tons of cargo, or 8.0% more than 2008. Passenger transportation comprised 163.8mln people or 7.4% more with 96.9% people using buses and 3.1% people vehicles.
In January to February 2009, the Azerbaijan State Railway Department (ASRD) transported 3mln tons of cargo, a decrease of 2.6% compared to the last year. Drop appeared as a result of cut in oil transport and transit deliveries. The number of loaded carriages dropped 24.6% in average and unloaded dropped by 30.4%. Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction dropped by 18.5% and in western direction by 38.5%, but in the southern direction increased by 52.1%.
The cargo shipping via sea rose by 15.4% and comprised 1.9mln tons. This figure is expected to shrink in the coming years.
Despite Azerbaijan-Russia talks on granting permission to navigation of 26 vessels, Russia imposed a ban on navigation of Azerbaijani vessels with over 30 years of operation term more than once in its internal waters. Around 80% of Azerbaijani vessels have an operation term of 25-30 years. The Azerbaijan State Caspian Sea Shipping Company owns 75 vessels (40 tankers and 35 dry cargo ships). As many as 20-25 ships beyond the Caspian Sea sail to Baku for repairs every year.
To resolve this system, talks are being held between the transport ministries of Azerbaijan and Russia on possible movement of via Russian canals without application.
Some 73.5% of cargo deliveries fell on oil and oil products, while 26.5% was dry cargo. All cargo deliveries were implemented under the international operations. The volume of cargo processed in Azerbaijani ports was 769,500 tons in January-February 2009 or 17.3% rise from the same period of 2008. About 3,500 tons of cargo was left in ports as of March 1, 2009. This is 46.2% more compared to January-February 2008.
In January-February 2009, the export via oil pipelines made up 7.4mln tons. During this period, 73.4% or 5.4mln tons of oil was transported via the BTC. It means 7.5% drop from January-February 2008 figure. The transport of the Kazakh oil via the BTC kept on increasing in January - February 2009. About 301,300 tons of Kazakh oil was transported.
Transportation via gas pipelines made up 2.2bln cu.m, or 28.2% more than in January -February 2008. One third of the transported gas fell on South Caucasus Pipeline. About 1bln cu.m. of gas was transported via this pipe in January-February. The major reason for the growth is the export of the Azerbaijani gas to the foreign markets.
In January-February 2009, the passenger transportation via airways fell by 2.3% and made up 167,800 people, including 7.1% implemented by private sector. Greater part (92.9%) fell on public sector. Private sector transportation fell 0.8% and public sector transportation fell 1.5%.
The metro continues to be the most popular and profitable modes of transport. The Baku Metro conveys 550,000-560,000 passengers per day on average. It conveys around 700,000 passengers on working days.
In January-February 2009, 35.5mln passengers used metro services or 9.4% rise from January-February 2009. The growth is due to improvements in metro work. Due to increase in passengers, the Baku Metro shifted to new schedule. The intervals between trains reduced up to two minutes in rush hours since October 2008.
In January 2009, 3.2mln tons of cargo (a decrease of 11.2%) and 15.7mln passengers (5.3% rise) were transported via the Eurasian corridor. The profits from the transportation amounted to AZN 18.1mln, an increase of 6.71% from the last year.
