{"id":149763,"date":"2024-11-18T20:15:46","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T10:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=57949"},"modified":"2024-11-18T20:15:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T10:15:46","slug":"russia-presents-new-instc-vision-broad-gauge-corridor-through-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=149763","title":{"rendered":"Russia presents new INSTC vision: broad gauge corridor through Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia has proposed a broad gauge corridor from Azerbaijan all the way to Iran\u2019s port in Bandar Abbas. Were the railway to come to fruition, it would give Russia direct rail access to the Indian Ocean within the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor. No gauge changes or transshipment would be necessary.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Iran uses the European standard 1,435-millimetre gauge, while Russia and Azerbaijan operate on the 1,520-millimetre variant. It creates the need for time (and money-)consuming gauge switches on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, a key obstacle for the INSTC\u2019s competitiveness. Russia now seeks to overcome those hindrances with its proposal for a single-gauge corridor all the way to the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

The corridor is supposed to be entirely separate from the existing Iranian rail network, so that it will not intersect with other railways at any point, according to Russian media. If built in that way, it seems that its use for Iran would be rather limited for its own exports. The corridor\u2019s primary function would be transit traffic from the Bandar Abbas port northwards, towards Russia.<\/p>\n

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Image: Shutterstock. \u00a9 Peter Hermes Furian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Far-fetched?<\/h2>\n

Such a cross-country and broad-gauge only may be difficult to put into practice. Russia and Iran already cooperated on the Rasht – Astara railway, a much shorter line that is the last missing piece of the western branch of the INSTC.<\/p>\n

The countries quarreled for longer than a year over its funding, with Russia ultimately taking on the vast majority of the costs at 1,6 billion euros. More recently, problems with land surveys have been delaying the project. The Rasht – Astara railway has been a challenge for the two country, let alone a different gauge railway across all of Iran.<\/p>\n

Logistical puzzle<\/h2>\n

The INSTC is a multimodal transport corridor that links Russia with the Indian Ocean via the western and eastern Caspian sea coasts, as well as via maritime transport across the inland sea. On the western land route, the railway between the Iranian towns of Rasht and Astara is the only missing piece of the logistical puzzle. The envisioned rail-only route along the western branch of the INSTC would be the most interesting connection between Russia and Iran\u2019s southern coast from a commercial point of view.<\/p>\n