Russian Railways Logistics Launch Cargo Delivery Service to China via Iran

Russian Railways Logistics plans to launch permanent cargo delivery to China via Iran via the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), according to Vera Vtorygina, director of the Russian Railways Logistics branch in Saratov. She was speaking at the “Transport Logistics of the Caspian Region 2025” forum in Astrakhan.

In March, a test shipment of potash fertilizers from Belarus was sent along this route. Three full capacity container trains completed the journey. The new service will partially relieve the load from the railways of the Eastern polygon. It also provides for the use of sea transport for the delivery of goods from Iranian to Chinese ports.

Vtorygina said “We have developed this route because there is a demand for an alternative to the Eastern landfill, where there is an increased load on the existing infrastructure. We plan to increase the volume of INSTC transportation via Iran in the near future, and we are waiting for cargo owners who will be able to assess the advantages of the route and begin to step up.”

The service runs along the eastern branch of the North-South transport corridor (through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and provides for the transhipment of containers at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas to sea vessels for subsequent shipment to the main ports of China.

In general, the transportation of a wide variety of goods is planned as part of the new route. The new service will expand infrastructure capabilities and provide an alternative for freight traffic to China.

The INSTC has become one of Russia’s priorities, as it supports the reorientation of logistics flows in the face of sanctions restrictions and provides access to the markets of the so-called “friendly” countries of the Middle East and Asia. In addition to the Eastern branch, which is mainly represented by rail, the transport corridor also has a route directly through the Caspian Sea (the Central branch) and through Azerbaijan (the Western branch).

Full use of the Western section will however only be possible only approximately in 2028, when the Rasht-Astara section connecting Iran with Azerbaijan will be put into operation.