Container traffic along the North-South ITC has doubled since early this year, RZD says

There was an increase in all types of cargo transportation on the ITC’ branch lines

The volume of container traffic along the North-South International Transport Corridor (ITC) has doubled since since the beginning of 2023, Russian Railways (RZD) Telegram messenger channel said citing a report of an official of RZD.

RZD deputy head Alexey Shilo speaking at PRO//Movement.Caspian Conference in Astrakhan said that the NS ITC project, which was considered as an unfeasible one just recently, has finally come into effect.

“This year we have doubled the volume of container cargo transportation on all branch lines of the North-South ITC and we see a very good prospect and, most importantly, the interest of all transportation participants in the development of this corridor,” emphasized Mr. Shilo.

There was also an increase in the transportation of all types of cargo along the branches of the ITC: by 7% on the Western branch line, by 10% on the Trans-Caspian branch line, and by 26% on the Eastern branch line, the RZD official added.

The North-South Transport Corridor is a 7,200-km transport artery stretching from St Petersburg to ports in Iran and India. North-South ITC has a western and an eastern branch, both running across Iran. The western one foresees cargo transportation by road via Rasht, the eastern one – by railway. The Port of Bandar Abbas is the end point in Iran from which freight can be delivered to India by sea-going transport. The western branch also crosses Azerbaijan, the eastern one – Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Besides, direct seaborne traffic from Russia to Iran by the Caspian Sea is also possible.