A working group reuniting representatives of Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and India has set as working plan the construction of the railway line working group Rasht – Astara (Iran) – Astara (Azerbaijan), according to the Iranian news web site Tasnim which quotes an official of Iranian Railways, Mohammad Reza Mohammadi Arasi. The construction of the entire Qazvin-Rasht-Astara section, part of the North-South Corridor, was debated during the fifth Coordination Council for the International North-South Corridor, organised in Baku in mid-June. The participants have underlined the importance of building the line in the shortest timeframe possible.
According to the Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads, Ahmad Sadeghi, the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara line will be ready by March 2014. Currently, the line is 67% completed and 15 of the 22 tunnels included in the project are 70% completed.
Countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and even Afghanistan have expressed interest in the development of the railway works of this corridor. According to Iranian Railways (RAI), the commissioning of the Corridor will significantly cut the transport time of goods from the present 45-60 days to 25-30 days. Ever since October 2010, when the 1520 Forum was held in Baku (Azerbaijan), agreements were signed on launching the construction of railways for the single missing link along the North-South Corridor, Qazvin – Astara – Rasht, with a length of 375 km. Works are currently underway. The largest part of the section, 300 km, is on the territory of Iran, which in 2011 allocated USD 111 Million for the construction of the respective line. According to the technical and economic data, the capacity of the new line Rasht (Iran) – Astara (Azerbaijan) could reach 9 million tonnes by 2015 and over 19 million tonnes by 2030. The total sum of investments in the construction of this line is estimated at USD 408 Million.
RZD said they were ready to participate to the implementation of the international North-South Corridor, according to the company’s Vice President, Vadim Morozov. “For the deployment of the railway line, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran have initiated the construction of the Uzen-Gorgan line along the Caspian Sea to replace the longer actual route to Iran”, declared Vadim Morozov, Vice President of Russian Railways. “For the first time in history, the construction of this route will make possible the establishment of a rail connection of around 4,500 km from St. Petersburg to the port of Bandar Abbas (Iran) in the Persian Gulf and a shorter connection between North-East and Central Europe to the countries in Middle East and South Asia”. The line will be used for the organisation of international container railway traffic and, experts say, the market of freight transport is estimated at 16-17 million tonnes.
According to Mohammadi Arasi, the working group talked about the construction of the railway, necessary investments and other issues. The results of discussions will be presented in order to make a decision to the following reunion of the deputy foreign ministers of the four participating countries. “The construction of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway is a quite difficult process as it includes 22 tunnels and 15 special bridges. However, 70% of works to 15 tunnels is already completed”, added Arasi.
In fact, what are the advantages of deve-loping the route along the west coast of the Caspian Sea? The advantages have been emphasized by the International Union of Railways (UIC) in a feasibility study elaborated in 2008 which shows that the route is the most feasible on the long-run. The fewer countries involved the better because this enables the conclusion of agreements and facilitates cross-border procedures.
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