Russia Plans To Connect Iran's Caspian Ports Of Rasht, Astara By Rail In 4 Years

Russia estimates that a new rail link between the Iranian ports of Rasht and Astara on the Caspian Sea will be completed in the second half of 2027, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said on Friday

KAZAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2023) Russia estimates that a new rail link between the Iranian ports of Rasht and Astara on the Caspian Sea will be completed in the second half of 2027, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said on Friday.

Russia and Iran announced a deal on Wednesday that will complete the rail section of a 4,500-mile-long North-South commercial transport route spanning Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and India. The network will connect St. Petersburg in western Russia to the port of Mumbai on India's west coast.

"Under the agreement, it (the rail link) will take four years to build. We are already doing the planning and geological surveying, and we expect the work to be over in the third quarter of 2027 or by the end of 2027," Belousov told reporters at KazanForum in Russia.

He estimated that trans-Caspian freight traffic would grow to 10 million tonnes a year by 2030 once Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan deepen the seabed along the maritime stretch of the North-South route.

The construction of the Rasht-Astara rail link alone is expected to increase commercial rail traffic between the three Caspian nations to 15 million tonnes, with the North-South route's overall capacity projected to triple over the next seven years, reaching an annual 41-45 million tonnes.