This year, Russian railways plans to transport 1 million tons of cargo along the eastern branch of the international North-South transport corridor through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. This was announced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2023) by Oleg Belozerov, CEO – Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Russian Railways, writes “RZD-Partner”.
“We are ready to be basic carriers. This year we agreed with colleagues from Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan to try to transfer 1 million tons by rail,” Belozerov shared.
The eastern branch of the INSTC, unlike the western one, is a complete route, while the Rasht-Astara railway with a length of 162 km should be built jointly with Iran on the western branch of the Russian Railways.
“There is no doubt that all this will be done on time. And this will create a new content of the INSTC,” says Belozerov.
In 2022, 9 million tonnes of freight were transported via the North-South route, which is 60% up than the previous year.
According to the CEO of Russian Railways, in January-May 2023, the growth dynamics remained. Cargo transportation grew by 42% to 4 million tons.
The volume of container traffic during the same period reached almost 20,000 TEU, which is 4 times more than in 2022.
“The potential of the corridor is enormous. In the future – over 100 million tons. Last year showed the strategic importance of the North-South railway for the country, we need to develop it even more actively,” the head of Russian Railways stressed. ///nCa, 16 June 2023
RZD, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russian Railways, North-South, INSTC