BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 21. Russian Railways has given the green light to its plan of sending a freight train from Ulyanovsk to Astara (Iran) via Baku along the North-South ITC, the statement of the head of Russia's Ulyanovsk region Aleksei Russkikh said, TurkicWorldreports.
"This is the first direct such route; it will become a new branch of the North-South ITC. It is about a direct freight block train called "Ulyanovsk - Baku - Astara". This is the western railroad corridor of the logistics project "Middle Volga - Caspian Sea - Persian Gulf," Russkikh noted.
He mentioned that this export train is being geared up for shipment with a mixed bag of agro-industrial products, industrial goods, and woodworking products.
According to the governor, the development of the North-South International Transport Corridor was discussed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during Putin's visit to Baku on August 18–19.
Russkikh emphasized that the railway segment of the corridor is undergoing an upgrade to increase its capacity and facilitate the transportation of cargo weighing 15 to 30 million tons. As per him, this agreement presents significant opportunities for the advancement of the new trade and logistics route "Middle Volga - Caspian Sea - Persian Gulf," which was initiated by the Ulyanovsk region as part of the North-South ITC.
To note, the North-South ITC has been in the works since the turn of the millennium. The corridor has several forks in the road.
