Resht-Astara Railway: A Strategic Link for the North-South and Central Corridors

There is perhaps no other project that has stalled in recent times, but is now in high demand, like the Resht-Astara railway. This section actually 'closes' two corridors at the same time.

1. The North-South Transport Corridor is a joint project of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and India that will dramatically speed up the exchange of goods within Eurasia, allowing cargoes to travel by rail from the Indian Ocean to the Baltic Sea through Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia in 8-10 days.

2. Central Corridor - the Resht-Astara road will duplicate the ferry crossings across the Caspian Sea and allow cargo to be shipped by rail from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan via Iran to Azerbaijan, bypassing the Caspian Sea from the south. Eliminating the need to cross the Caspian by ferry could further speed up transit along the Central Corridor.

Russia's growing interest in the Resht-Astara railway

The north-south corridor through Azerbaijan and Iran is increasingly in demand. Currently, the volume of freight traffic and transit between Iran and Azerbaijan is growing at a faster pace. Most of the cargo, including transit cargo, passes through the border crossings - road and rail - in the city of Astara, which is actually divided into two parts by the border. With the help of Azerbaijan, a railway border crossing to Astara on the Iranian side of the border has already been built.

The total volume of rail freight traffic between Azerbaijan and Iran increased by 47% in 2023, reaching a total of over 700,000 tonnes. This represents a 1.6-fold increase in transit freight traffic. Nevertheless, at the Iranian border town of Astara, rail freight must be transferred to road vehicles for onward transportation. This results in a reduction in the speed and cost-effectiveness of the transportation process. This situation is particularly disadvantageous for Russia, for which the North-South transit corridor is of significant strategic importance.

Recently, the Iranian Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, met with Igor Levitin, a Russian Presidential Aide. The implementation of the Resht-Astara railway project and the North-South corridor were among the matters discussed by the two parties. Furthermore, Igor Levitin indicated his willingness to travel to Tehran for discussions with the recently appointed members of the Iranian cabinet. He underscored that the primary objective of his visit to Iran is to advance economic initiatives within the context of bilateral relations.

It is evident that Moscow is exerting considerable pressure on Tehran to expedite the completion of the Resht-Astara railway. The project of an 'alternative' railway through Armenia, which would have entailed a significantly higher financial outlay than the Resht-Astara railway, has now been effectively superseded. This railway project was previously advocated by Yerevan for several years. In light of the current trajectory of deteriorating relations between the Russian military and the Russian government, the project is, in principle, unfeasible.

The construction of the Resht-Astara railway has recently experienced a slowdown. This raises the question of whether this is due to objective difficulties or if it is an attempt to obtain a favourable negotiating position.

The North-South International Transport Corridor is a multimodal route from St. Petersburg to the port of Mumbai (India). The length of the corridor exceeds 7,000 kilometres. The North-South International Transport Corridor comprises three routes: the trans-Caspian route, which utilises railways and ports; and the overland western and eastern routes.

The western route, which traverses Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, is currently the most expedient and cost-effective option for Russia. As part of this route, the Resht-Astara railway will facilitate connectivity between the land sections of the western route of the international transport corridor, designated 'North-South'. It has already been agreed that the construction of the line will be carried out with the participation of Moscow and Tehran, as well as the Iranian and Azerbaijani cities of Astara, with the involvement of Moscow, Tehran and Baku.

It is anticipated that the Resht-Astara railway will become fully operational by the end of 2027. Accordingly, preliminary forecasts indicate that by the end of 2030, the freight turnover along the western branch of the North-South transport corridor will reach 15 million tonnes per year, with an anticipated increase to 60 million tonnes per year in the future. Russia, in collaboration with Iran and Azerbaijan, is also engaged in the construction of a direct border section of the railway, extending from the Iranian city of Astara to the Azerbaijani city of the same name.

In May 2023, Russia and Iran agreed to finance the final phase of the western North-South railway route, spanning from Resht to Astara in Iran. The estimated cost for this section is €1.6 billion. Of the total funds, €1.3 billion is to be provided as a loan by the Russian Federation, with the remainder to be sourced from the Iranian side.

In the Iranian section of the railway link between Resht and Astara, no construction work was undertaken throughout 2023, despite repeated calls from Russia for the pace of construction to be accelerated. In December 2023, Iran's Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Shahriyar Afandizadeh, announced that construction of the railway linking Resht to Astara in Gilan province would commence in early 2024. Nevertheless, the commencement of construction activities did not occur until the summer of 2024. Russian experts have observed that Iran is not demonstrating a sense of urgency in implementing the Resht-Astara railway project and has not provided Russia with the necessary assistance to facilitate its progress.

Alexei Sapetko, Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Transport, asserts that the visit of Russian parliamentarians, headed by Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, to Iran was the impetus for progress on the matter of land allocation for the construction of the Resht-Astara railway, which had previously stalled. Despite Russia's willingness to assist, including financial assistance, to accelerate construction, The Iranian side initially proposed to allocate less than 20% of the future track for geodetic, design and survey work. The Iranian side has thus far allocated less than 20% of the entire 158-kilometre route for pre-project work, including geodesy, measurements, design, and field work. This equates to approximately 30 kilometres. This is insufficient, therefore the project remains at the preliminary stage, according to Alexey Sapetko, who commented on the status of the Resht-Astara railway construction.

The construction contract cannot be signed until the design work is complete, as it must include several technical parameters that have yet to be defined .

Furthermore, the exact alignment cannot be determined until the sections provided by the Iranian partners have been incorporated into the design. This is according to the representative of the Russian Transport Ministry.

Resht-Astara road connects corridors

The eastern route of the North-South Corridor is already in operation. The railway in question is a Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway with two branches. The older branch of the railway enters the Iranian network at the Tejen-Serakhs border crossing. The new branch traversed Bolashak station (which connects directly from western Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan), inaugurated in 2014, and subsequently entered the Iranian Republic via the Etrek-Gorgan border crossing. Furthermore, the distance between China and Iran via Kazakhstan will be reduced by 500 kilometres. The eastern route of the North-South Corridor has already been successfully utilised by Kazakhstan for the export of grain to Iran and beyond to the Persian Gulf countries.

Similarly, the western route of the North-South corridor could also be extended with two additional branches. In addition to the shortest Resht-Astara route, it would be feasible to launch a second branch. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to restore the railway through the Zangezur corridor and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic to the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan.

Concurrently, the Resht-Astara railway will facilitate connectivity between the western route of the North-South corridor and the Middle Corridor. This will be achieved by enabling the operation of goods trains bypassing the Caspian Sea on two routes: Serakhs-Tehran-Kazvin-Resht-Astara and Gorgan-Tehran-Kazvin-Resht-Astara.

Vladimer Tskhvediani
Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey Strategic Partnership Information Support Centre

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