Azerbaijan and Iran embark on construction of Resht-Astara railway

Baku. 31 March. REPORT.AZ/ Azerbaijan and Iran will soon begin construction of Resht-Astara railway. Report informs referring to IRNA, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani told reporters in Iranian province of Gilan.

Touching upon the importance of Resht-Astara railway construction, Iranian president noted that during his recent visit to Moscow he has discussed with the Russian officials a draft of the international "North-South" transport corridor.

According to H. Rouhani, construction of Kazvin-Resht railway is also at final stage, and it is expected that it will be put into operation during current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20.

Notably, Azerbaijan plans to invest 60 million EUR in the development of railway facilities in Iran's Astara for the full-fledged activity of "North-South" international transport corridor.

The Kazvin-Resht-Astara (Iran) -Astara railway (Azerbaijan) is part of the North-South transport corridor that will connect Northern Europe with South-East Asia, including railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.

At the initial stage, cargo transportation is planned along the corridor in amount of 6 million, in future 15-20 million tons per year. The cargo will pass through the territory of India and further through the Persian Gulf, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia towards the Scandinavian countries and Northern Europe in 14 days.