Azerbaijan Railways says there are plans to ship up to 300 container block-trains from China to Azerbaijan by end of 2024

BAKU. Sept 20 (Interfax) - Dispatching around 300 container block-trains from China to Azerbaijan via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or the Middle Corridor, is planned for 2024, CJSC Azerbaijan Railways Chairman Rovshan Rustamov said.

"We have begun jointly with our partners to prioritize container shipments and dispatching block-trains along the corridor to increase cargo flow along the Middle Corridor, and improve the efficiency and competitiveness. There are plans to ship around 300 container block-trains overall, which is equivalent to about 30,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers or up to 420,000 tonnes of cargo, from China along the Middle Corridor by the end of the year," Rustamov said on Friday in Baku during a consultative meeting involving the heads of railway administrations on establishing the Eurasian Transport Route international association.

Rustamov said that an agreement has already been reached on transporting goods sent from China via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, part of the Middle Corridor.

"The first container train was delivered from the Chinese port of Xi'an to Baku in just 11 days in March this year. Block-trains are delivered from China to Azerbaijan within 8-10 days on average, and to the ports of Georgia within 12 days," Rustamov said.