Expansion of the international transport corridor "North-South"

Last year, traditional logistics routes in the country began to change: the Western transport corridor was closed to Russia, the Eastern and Azov-Black Sea directions were overloaded. Under these conditions, the North-South International Transport Corridor (ITC) has become the most promising, in the development of which significant funds will have to be invested.

Olga Kalyuzhnaya, President of the Russian Forest Association: “Transportation along the international transport corridor in the first quarter of 2023 doubled, reaching 2.3 million tons. In 2022, about 14.5 million tons of cargo were transported through it. In the coming years, the development of the North-South corridor will depend on the amount of private and public investment. The President of Russia already gave the corresponding instruction in early May following the results of the RUIE congress. This logistical route can become strategic, giving Russian businesses access to Indian markets”.

There are three main routes along the North-South corridor that require investment and modernization.

Western route: development of railway infrastructure

Russia and Iran are implementing joint construction of railway sections in Minvody. An agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara section will be signed in the near future.
Russian Railways plans to build Samur-2 station in close proximity to the border with Azerbaijan to increase the capacity of the Russian section of the North-South corridor.

Caspian route: development of ports, opening of a ferry service from Makhachkala

The Caspian cluster has been formed in the Astrakhan region, which includes two special economic zones (SEZs): industrial and production type "Lotos" and a port one. A modern container terminal is already being built on the territory of the port SEZ, as well as a terminal for processing grain crops and vegetable oil.
Construction of a modern fleet: Astrakhan shipyards laid down four dry-cargo container ships. It is planned to launch 25 such vessels.
Development of the Makhachkala commercial port, local railway network, airport, federal and highway network.

Eastern route: reconstruction of existing railways

Creation of transport, logistics and industrial centers, including on the territory of Iranian seaports.
In 2023, Russian Railways, together with the railway companies of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, decided to establish lower container-kilometer rates for the use of the infrastructure of the eastern route of the North-South ITC.