(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 26. Azerbaijan intends to boost cargo turnover on the North-South route to five million tons per year from January 1, 2028, Minister of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev said at the 83rd meeting of the CIS Railway Transport Council in Baku, Trend reports.

The minister brought up that last year, Azerbaijan and Russia struck a cooperation deal to work on transit traffic along the North-South International Transport Corridor. The documents provide for the modernization of railway infrastructure and a phased growth in freight traffic.

"For example, starting January 1, 2028, we plan to increase the turnover on this route to five million tons and subsequently to 15 million tons per year," he explained.

Nabiyev noted that infrastructure upgrades on the Azerbaijani section of the corridor are actively underway; the reconstruction of the Sumgayit-Yalama line will be completed by the end of this year.

On November 25, 2025, the 83rd meeting of the Council for Rail Transport of the CIS commenced in Baku, attended by heads of railway administrations from member states and key representatives of related organizations. Discussions centered on the CIS railway network's performance in 2025, international freight transportation initiatives, the development of transport corridors, and tariff policies for 2026.

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