INSTC Transportation Tariffs May Decrease

Tariffs for transportation of freight through the International North-South Transport Corridor may drop after the completion of a railroad segment connecting two Iranian and Azerbaijani border cities, the head of International Transportation Department at the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways said.

“Transportation tariffs may drop after the inauguration of Astara (Iran)-Astara (Azerbaijan) railroad in the coming months,” Hossein Ashouri also told Trend on the sidelines of a meeting with the rail officials of Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan in Baku on Wednesday.

Noting that Iranian and Azerbaijani sides are working hard to inaugurate the two rail segments of Rahst-Qazvin and Astara-Astara over the current year, he hoped that the Rasht-Astara segment would come on stream in three years.

The official added that Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and Belarus railroads have also agreed to refrain from increasing tariff for 2018.

The sides will meet again in the next three months in India to present information about the capabilities of transportation corridor to freight forwarders in India as the corridor is expected to be extended to Belarus and Northern Europe.

Ashouri noted that Finland, Estonia and Latvia may join INSTC in the near future. INSTC is meant to connect Northern Europe with Southeast Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railroads of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the initial stage, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year through the corridor and over 10 million tons of cargo in the future.