The construction and commissioning of the railway from Rasht of Iran to Astara of Azerbaijan will significantly reduce the transport time of goods along the “North-South” international shipping corridor. This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the signing ceremony of an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway.
“I would like to emphasize that the unique North-South transport artery, of which the Rasht-Astara railway will be a part, will help to significantly diversify global traffic flows. Transportation along the new corridor will have significant competitive advantages. There are significant savings in terms of time and cost,” he said.
For example, Putin said that once the highway is in service, delivery of goods from St. Petersburg to Indian Mumbai should take 10 days compared to 30-45 days on existing routes.
The ceremony, which was held with the participation of Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, was held via video conference.
President Putin noted that the launch of the North-South international shipping corridor will be used to deliver food and agricultural products to consumers in Iran, the Persian Gulf countries and the African continent.
According to him, this route will “make a tangible contribution to global food security.”
“Russian and Iranian goods will have more convenient and geographically diverse access to foreign markets,” said Vladimir Putin.
North-South corridor, St. It is the route of various types of roads from St. Petersburg to Mumbai. Its length is 7.2 thousand km. The Rasht-Astara railway is the last railway section of the corridor.
This land-sea route is an alternative to the old sea route through the Suez Canal. The North-South route runs along the Caspian Sea as well as east and west of the Caspian.
The signing of a tripartite agreement between the Russian Federation, Iran and Azerbaijan is also expected. Although the Russian and Iranian sides will build the Rasht-Astara railway, a part of the route passes through the territory of Azerbaijan. Russian Railways said that the signing of this document is also planned for 2023.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, whose construction cost of the runway section is estimated at 1.6 billion Euros, said that Moscow will provide a loan of 1.3 billion Euros. According to him, Russia has an 85% share in this interstate loan. The money must be returned “within the payback period of the project”.
In January 2023, Iranian Deputy Minister of Transport and Urban Development Shahriar Afandizadeh named the Rasht-Astara railway project the most important infrastructure project in the country. The length of this section is 162 km. Considering the Russian investments, the project is expected to be completed in three years, one year shorter than previously anticipated.
On June 23, 2022, Iran’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia Kazim Jalali told TASS that Iran could become a shipping hub for Russian grain and sunflower oil exports, as well as goods imported from third countries to Russia.
He mutually emphasized that Iran can send a large amount of goods to Russia. Goods transport will be carried out along the North-South corridor with road, rail and sea links.
The Rasht-Astara railway project appeared quite a long time ago. In 2011, Russian Railways OJSC, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC and Iranian Railways (RAI) signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding. The companies agreed to jointly implement the project for the construction of the Rasht (Iran) – Astara (Iran) – Astara (Azerbaijan) railway line.
“The establishment of a direct rail link with Iran through Azerbaijan and the implementation of the project of the construction of the Rasht – Astara (Iran) – Astara (Azerbaijan) railway line is of great importance for the development of the North-South international transport corridor,” Russian Railways said in a statement.
In 2009, the then head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, also said in the same year that Russian Railways plans to start construction of the Kazvin-Rasht-Astara railway this year.
In March 2008, Yakunin reported that as part of the implementation of the North-South international transport corridor, Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan agreed on the terms of forming a consortium for the construction of the Kazvin-Rasht-Astara railway. Evaluating the possibilities for the implementation of the North-South International Transport Corridor project, Yakunin noted that its use means “plus at least 20 million tons of cargo that can go from Helsinki to the Indian Ocean.”