Azerbaijan eyes new container train route linking Iran and Russia

Azerbaijan is exploring the launch of a new container train route connecting Astara (Iran), Baku (Azerbaijan), and Astrakhan (Russia).

This is reflected in a readout issued by the Ministry of International and Foreign Economic Relations of the Astrakhan region, News.Az reports.

Currently, the primary cargo flow between Azerbaijan and the Astrakhan Region is transported by rail along the western branch of the international North-South transport corridor. This route facilitates the delivery of goods from Azerbaijan, as well as transit cargo from Iran, Türkiye, and India to Russia.

“Today, the Azerbaijani side is considering the possibility of launching a container train on the Astara-Baku-Astrakhan route using the infrastructure of the Astrakhan railway hub located at the Kutum station,” it noted.

The ministry notes that the project is planned to be implemented with the participation of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC. Representatives of the railways have already visited Astrakhan and positively assessed the prospects for cooperation.

“At the same time, active work is underway to increase cargo traffic through the Trans-Caspian section of the North-South corridor. We expect that the relevance of sea freight traffic with Azerbaijan will increase with the commissioning of the Caspian cluster capacities, in particular, the port infrastructure and the container hub,” the ministry added.

News.Az