South-West corrdior to ensure goods delivery for 7 days

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

The cargo transportation from India to Europe via Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine and in the opposite direction along the South-West Transport Corridor will take seven days, according to preliminary estimates.  

Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways Javid Gurbanov announced about this while addressing a meeting with a delegation headed by Chairman of the Board Ukrainian Railways Balchun Wojciech.

The South-West route, , which is of great importance for Azerbaijan will provide freight transportation en route India – Persian Gulf – Iran – Azerbaijan – Georgia – Black Sea – Europe.   The corridor is more attractive for the transportation of goods, while its main advantage is the reduction of the distance and delivery time two or threefold, as compared to other alternative routes, which provide cargo transportation within 35-37 days.

The initial capacity of the route will stand at 10,000 of cargo per year, while the volume will be further increased up many times.

He also informed the guests about the works carried out within the framework of the North-South Transport Corridor to connect Northern Europe to South-East Asia.

“The laying of a 8.3 km railway from the Astara station to the state border of Iran, as well as the construction of a railway bridge over the Astarachay river has already been completed. The other day the test train crossed the border through the new bridge,” said Gurbanov.

The North-South transport corridor is designed for the delivery of goods, in particular, from India and the Persian Gulf region to Russia, the countries of Western Europe, the Baltic and Scandinavian countries. The main advantage of this corridor from other routes is the distance and transit time, which is two to three times less, he said.

The North-South has a strategic importance for the region, since it will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.

At the initial stage, the North-South corridor will transport 5 million tons of cargo per year with further expansion of transportation to over 10 million tons. Along with making a great contribution to the diversification of Azerbaijan's economy the project is expected to turn the country into a major transport hub.

The project, which is considered to be a strategically important and advantageous in terms of time of transit cargo transportation, is also expected to bring great economic benefits.  The route, part of which will pass along the western coast of the Caspian Sea, from Russia to Iran through Azerbaijan enjoys several advantages compared to other transport such as Suez Canal-the Mediterranean Sea-Northern Europe and the Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Russia-Northern Europe routes.

Wojciech, in turn, noted that Ukraine is interested in participating in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route to increase trade with Azerbaijan.

Following the event, a trilateral format meeting was held with the participation of the Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Railway Aleksi Nikolashvili.

At the end of the meeting, a protocol of intent was signed between the railway agencies of Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Georgia.