Azerbaijan expressed interest in investing in the construction of a freight terminal at an under-construction rail station in Iranian city of Astara, as part of the North-South Transport Corridor, a high-ranking Iranian railway official told Trend.
Deputy Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company for Operation Affairs Hossein Ashouri has said that Azerbaijan declared readiness to invest in the freight terminal to be constructed on 10 hectares of land in the Iranian city.
The official added that the announcement was made during a meeting between Iranian and Azerbaijani officials over the past week discussing the latest developments concerning the construction of Astara (Iran) – Astara (Azerbaijan) railroad, a small segment of the North-South Transport Corridor.
Saying that the railway segment is projected to come on stream within the next three months, he added that the freight terminal will facilitate loading and unloading operations of industrial goods and metals as well as cereals, etc.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing three-day meetings of the Azerbaijan-Iran intergovernmental commission in Baku, the official noted that the Astara-Astara railroad segment will ease transportation of goods between Russia and India.
Iranian officials are currently making efforts to meet their commitment regarding the construction of the railway segment connecting the two countries through Astara border bridge.
Azerbaijan has already completed a 8.5 kilometer-long section of the project that falls on its territory. The Iranian side is 2.5 kilometer-long.