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Russia To Invest in North-South Railway To Link St. Petersburg with Mumbai
20 November 2014
EIRNS —As the north-south railroads which will link Russia with the Persian Gulf and then extend eastward through the Arabian Sea to India’s west coast — where India’s main commercial center and a major port, Mumbai, is situated — are moving forward at a brisk pace, more investments have recently been announced. Earlier this week, the Russian State Railroads Company announced plans to build a railway link from Russia, across Azerbaijan, to Iran. An intergovernmental agreement on building the railway is expected to be signed in July next year, and the Russian firm said it will foot the bill for the project. Russia is already investing in the Astara (Azerbaijan) to Qazvin (northcentral Iran), via Rasht, railroad. The North-South Corridor was recently agreed to by the railway administration directors of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Iran. In addition to Russia, Iran is also ready to invest in the 205-km-long Astara-Rasht-Qazvin railroads, Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mohsen Pak Ayin, had told Report.Az of Azerbaijan on Oct. 27. In 2013, the growth of road transport between Iran and Russia increased by 39 percent over that of 2012, the Iranian ambassador said. According to an article, "Russia to open way to south for Azerbaijan," that appeared in Trend.Az on Nov. 17, Azerbaijan and Iran are cooperating in the railway connection project between the two countries as part of this corridor. The article said that currently, cargo and passenger transportation between Azerbaijan and Iran is carried out by road transport. After the implementation of this project, it will be possible to carry out these operations via the railway, and as a result, the cargo transportation between the two neighboring countries will increase. Most of the North-South Corridor runs through Russia, east to west. According to one estimate, the North-South railway between Astara in Azerbaijan with Qazvin in Iran, when completed, will carry as much as 20 million tons of freight and cargo every year, which will significantly improve the economies of the countries involved. It will also facilitate rail travel for at least 1.4 million people annually. Ramtanu Maitra |