MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. The volume of freight traffic along the North-South International Transport Corridor (ITC) increased from 7,200 to 11,000 containers in 2025, CEO of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television.
"Cargo volumes along the North-South corridor are on the rise. <...> Corridor cargo is primarily containers. In 2025, cargo volumes increased from 7,200 to 11,000 containers. Consequently, the corridor is growing, with both one-way and north-south cargo being transported," he said.
This corridor opens up additional opportunities, such as intermodal transportation, including to Afghanistan, Belozerov noted. "Cargo is currently going to Africa, India, and Arabia. Cargo has also started flowing back to us, to Kazakhstan and Russia, along this corridor. The Aprin dry hub in Iran has opened. We, together with our colleagues, are working primarily on return shipments," he said.
An intergovernmental agreement on the creation of the multimodal transport corridor North-South spanning 7,200 km was signed by Russia, India and Iran in 2000. Later, the number of participants rose to 14. The project is aimed at attracting transit of cargo flows from India, Iran and the Persian Gulf countries through Russian territory to Europe. Currently the project unites several various transport systems of separate countries.