4 Nations Discuss Expansion of North-South Transport Corridor

Railway officials of Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus met in Baku on Tuesday to discuss finalizing issues related to the International North-South Transport Corridor, IRNA reported on Wednesday

Organizing freight transportation and boosting transit capacity of the western wing of the corridor were in the two-day quadrilateral meeting.

The Iranian team headed by Hossein Ashouri, member of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways presiding board, presented a report on goods transportation from Iran to Russia through Azerbaijan. The conferees also reviewed Iran-Moscow container train timetable, an Iranian report on rail cargo transport, use of refrigerated containers and also a report on building new railroads between the Azeri city of Astara and an eponymous Iran city at the common border.

Several documents were signed on transportation activities in INSTC.

The International North-South Transport Corridor is a 7,200-km-long multi-modal network of ship, rail, and road routes for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc.