In the first nine months of 2017, the volume of freight transported by rail along the North-South corridor increased by more than 21% and exceeded 4.7 million tonnes. In the same period, the volume of container traffic rose by a factor of 2.4 to more than 7,000 containers, Russian Railways President Oleg Belozerov said, during a meeting with Abbas Akhundi, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Construction.
During the meeting, they discussed development issues regarding the North-South rail transport corridor linking the countries of Europe and the central regions of Russia on the one hand and the countries of the Persian Gulf and South Asia on the other, as well as how to create the most favourable conditions for the work of logistics operators.
“I am sure that we could achieve even higher figures. We have very serious reserves which allow us to improve our joint work yet further. Much has already been done in this direction. In the past year, RZD Logistics, together with foreign partners, carried out a test shipment of containers from India to Russia via Iran and Azerbaijan along the western route of the corridor,” said Oleg Belozerov.
The two emphasized the important of the cooperation between the railway companies of Russia and Iran. “We traditionally pay special attention to cooperation with Iranian railways. Russian Railways and Iranian Railways participate in the activities of many international organisations on railway transport issues, including the Organisation for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD) and the International Union of Railways (Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer, UIC). We also hold similar positions on the development of the Eurasian transport space,” said Oleg Belozerov.
Also discussed during the meeting was the implementation of the project to electrify the Garsar-Ince Burun railway line in Iran and the supply of Russian equipment and materials. The contract signed between RZD International and Iran Railways has a value of EUR 1.2 billion and involves the electrification of the 495 km line, including electrification works, reconstruction of railway infrastructure, modernization of signaling and communication system, supply of machinery and vehicles, electric locomotives, rails and switches, as well as technical assistance during the first year of operation. The agreement was signed in March 2017.
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