The Astara – Astara border rail line is to be inaugurated in Baku on 29 March in the presence of the Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan

The Astara – Astara border rail line is to be inaugurated in Baku on 29 March in the presence of the Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of Azerbaijan.

The border line links the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Azerbaijan with the new 1.3 km of rail and was funded by Azerbaijan. The total cost of construction for the line and for Astara rail freight terminal was around 60 million dollars, according to Iranian Railways (RAI).

Hassan Rouhani and Ilham Aliyev, Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, will inaugurate the Astara - Astara route and the freight terminal in Astara (Iran) on 29 March.
“Some cargo from Azerbaijan and Russia has entered the rail docks in Astara in Iran in the past month, and the total weight of this cargo was around 7,600 tonnes of goods, carried by 122 freight wagons”, according to RAI.

The right to operate the Astara freight terminal in Iran has been granted to the Republic of Azerbaijan for 25 years, following Baku’s investment in the construction of the rail freight terminal.

The total area of the Astara rail dock is about 60 hectares and includes official buildings alongside required facilities such as silos and oil depots along terminals for general cargo and containers, according to Hossein Ashouri, former Head of RAI’s international transport committee.
“At least five foreign companies have declared that they are ready to invest in the Astara rail freight terminal. The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to accept foreign investors to expand the Astara rail freight terminal”, Ashouri said.

(Source: Iranian Railways (RAI) )