Azerbaijan been offered opportunity to develop dry ports to transfer cargo from roads to rail

Azerbaijan needs to develop a network of dry ports to accelerate the decarbonization of the transport sector, Kangbin Zheng, team leader and energy specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said at the presentation and workshop of the joint decarbonization project of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, Report informs.

He noted that the development of dry ports will be an important contribution to reducing emissions not only at the level of Azerbaijan Railways but also throughout the country's transport sector.

"According to our preliminary assessment, trucks in Azerbaijan travel an average of about 240 kilometers. This distance could be shortened: 40 kilometers to the dry port, and the remaining 200 kilometers could be transported by rail. Moreover, even these 40 kilometers could be covered by electric trucks. The electric trucks could be owned by Azerbaijan Railways or by third-party logistics companies with which Azerbaijan Railways could contract. This would effectively address the last-mile problem of transferring freight from roads to rails," Zheng added.

According to the ADB energy specialist, Azerbaijan has already committed to developing dry ports.