OREANDA-NEWS. October 15, 2010. Participating in the forum are a Russian Railways delegation led by company First Vice-President Vadim Morozov, and representatives of the rail networks of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries, as well as Russian and foreign companies and international transport organizations, reported the press-centre of RZD.

Vadim Morozov delivered a report at the forum. In his presentation, the Russian Railways first vice-president noted that the Caucasus region, with its unique geographical position, has always been a focus of attention, playing a key role in developing trade and cultural links between the largest population centres of the Eurasian continent.

"However, the transit potential of the region’s railway infrastructure is practically unused. This is despite the fact that the focus on trade between Europe and states of the Persian Gulf and South Asia (which in volume terms totals 3.5 million TEU per year), and consequently the potential of freight transit via the Caucasus region’s transport infrastructure, is steadily increasing", Morozov said.

The first vice-president said the rail networks of Russia and Caucasus states have all the necessary resources to attract transit freight.

"Russian Railways views the creation of the North-South International Transport Corridor as a clear priority in building the strategic partnership with countries of the Caspian region. As is well known, Russia initiated the project to create this corridor, which is aimed at improving the quality and reducing the cost of transport between European countries and states of the Persian Gulf and South and Southeast Asia", he said.

The Russian Railways vice-president noted that in 2005, the rail networks of Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran signed an agreement on a project to build and operate the Qazvin – Rasht - Astara (Iranian side) – Astara (Azerbaijani side) railway.

In 2008, Russian Railways drew up a feasibility study for the project to build the Qazvin – Rasht - Astara (Iranian side) – Astara (Azerbaijani side) railway with a length of 171.9 km, including 8.3 km on Azerbaijani territory. According to the feasibility study, the line will have carrying capacity of 9 million tons by 2015, and more than 19 million tons by 2030. Total investment needed to build the line is estimated at USD408 million.
 
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1520 mm is the track gauge throughout the rail networks of Commonwealth of Independent States and Baltic countries, as well as Mongolia and Finland. Its total track length is more than 150,000 km. This gauge is termed "broad" in comparison to the so-called "narrow" 1435 mm gauge used in North America, Europe, and China.

Since 2006, the International Rail Business Forum "Strategic Partnership 1520" has been a unique communications platform for discussing the most pressing issues in developing the transport and logistical business of the 1520 Area.

The aim of the forum is to strengthen business links between broad-gauge partners, and to develop cooperation with business representatives from Europe and Asia who are interested in joint projects.
 
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The largest share of Russia’s rail freight on routes linking to the Caucasus region comes from cargo to and from Turkey (60.2%), Azerbaijan (20.2%), and Iran (17.2%). Following the noticeable decline in rail freight volumes to and from these countries in recent years (down from 32.3 million tons to 26.1 tons from 2007 to 2009), this year there has been a positive trend with almost all countries (except Iran). In the first eight months of 2010, the volume of international freight on routes to the South Caucasus, Turkey and Iran compared to the same period of 2009 increased 4.5% to reach 17.4 million tons.