Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia agree to increase freight traffic on Trans-Caspian route

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia have agreed to increase the volume of freight traffic on Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, a spokesman for Azerbaijani Railways JSC said here on Monday.

Heads of the railway administrations of the three countries met in Baku last week to discuss the possibility of increasing the volume of freight traffic on the route, spokesman Nadir Azmammadov told local Trend news agency.

The meeting also focused on competitive tariffs, boosting efficiency of the ferries on Aktau-Kuryk-Alat-Aktau-Kuryk route, development of cooperation in the field of production and supply of railway engineering products, the report said.

"The sides recognized the need to increase freight traffic via the overland route through Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, using both wagon and container transport," Azmammadov said.

Tbilisi will host a meeting of Trans-Caspian International Transport route Coordinating Committee on Tuesday, he added.

The railway agencies of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to establish the International Trans-Caspian Transport Consortium on April 13 to address the issues concerning tariffs, existing bureaucratic delays, to eliminate deficiencies in infrastructure, and to increase the container train speed.

The Trans-Caspian route connects China with Europe via the territory of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia. This is a corridor which uses railway, maritime and road transport for transportation of goods. Endit