Working groups to duscuss North-South railway project in Iran

Azerbaijani, Iranian and Russian working groups will meet in Tehran on Nov.3-4 as part of the the North-South project, Azerbaijani State Railway Office Spokesperson Nadir Azmammadov said on Oct.14.

"At present, negotiations are underway. There are still no exact results and dates. But, the meeting of working groups is scheduled for Nov.1-4 in Tehran," Azmammadov said.

The North-South transport corridor envisages unified railway transportation from Europe to India and Southeast Asia via Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. According to preliminary estimates, the project will cost over $400 million and much work should be done in Iran, which has no rail link to the border with Azerbaijan. Certain work worth about $35-40 million should be conducted in Azerbaijan.

The work to be conducted in Azerbaijan envisages constructing about 8.5 kilometers railway station to the Astara station (Azerbaijan), having a wheel pair change system, border and customs infrastructure. It is also necessary to build a border railway bridge. However, this project will be implemented on a parity basis with Iran.

According to estimations, the corridor will transport 5 million tons of cargo per year in the first stage and up to 10-15 million tons in future.

/Trend Capital/