Iran to connect its rail lines with Azerbaijan's by late 2010

Iran intends to connect its railway lines with Azerbaijan's, within the opening of 'North-South' railroad branch, by late 2010 (the Iranian year starts on March 21), Trend quotes Iranian Transport Minister Hamid Behbahani as saying.

The 'North-South' railroad will allow Azerbaijan access to the Persian Gulf, while Iran will gain access to European countries and Russia. Azerbaijan will become a major transit center after the process of transporting goods from Iran to these countries is launched.

"We have a railway line from Bandar Abbas to Tehran and Qazvin. Construction work from Qazvin to Resht is underway. Over 40 percent of the work has been completed. We are trying to accelerate this process. A ten-kilometer-long path has already been laid from the Iranian town of Astara to Resht. Work is underway there, " the Minister said. "Iran intends to lay 16,000 kilometers of railway lines in the next 15 years," Behbahani added. "We intend to increase the number of railway lines by 1.5 in the next 15 years. We have enough qualified personnel
for this purpose."

The "North-South" transport corridor project envisages the creation of a single rail transport system from Europe through Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran to India and South-East Asia. More than $400 million will be required to implement the project. Most of the work will be done in Iran, which has no rail link to the border with Azerbaijan. Certain work requiring $35-40 million needs to be carried out in Azerbaijan.

One forecast is that 5 million tons of goods would be transported via this corridor annually in the first phase, rising to 10-15 million tons a year.