One of Azerbaijan’s primary goals in diversifying its economy, reducing dependency on oil, and developing the non-oil sector is to enhance the country's transportation potential and establish itself as an international transportation hub.

While Azerbaijan’s favorable geographic location at the crossroads of East-West and North-South trade routes is a positive factor, it is not sufficient on its own. To achieve this goal, the country must develop and modernize its transportation infrastructure to support international transit flows and actively collaborate with countries along international corridors to enhance their functionality. Azerbaijan’s multimodal transit system, comprising railway, road, sea, and air transportation, necessitates extensive international cooperation and coordination.

The long-term strategic steps undertaken by Azerbaijan in this direction are already yielding results. Railways form the backbone of transit transportation across Azerbaijan, with transit volumes significantly increasing since 2022. In 2024, ADY transported over 18.5 million tons of freight across transit, import, export, and domestic operations. Compared to the same period in 2023, transit freight increased by 5.7% to 7.3 million tons, while import freight rose by 10% to 5.2 million tons. The primary East-West corridor accounted for over 3.2 million tons of freight during the year. Among transit cargo, oil and petroleum products exceeded 2.8 million tons, representing an 11% increase compared to 2023. Metal ores and industrial metal products grew by 8%, while wood, cellulose, and paper products increased by 26%.

In import operations, oil and petroleum products showed the largest growth, up by 89% compared to 2023, while chemical industry products rose by 12%, and coal and other fuel products by 52%.

ADY’s Leading Role in Developing International Corridors in Azerbaijan

In addition to efficiently organizing transit operations, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY) plays a pivotal role in the development of corridors passing through Azerbaijan, increasing their competitiveness and attractiveness. ADY is one of the main contributors to Azerbaijan’s international coordination efforts in this area.

The Middle Corridor, facilitating East-West and West-East freight transport, is a strategically significant transit route for Azerbaijan. Since its inception in 2017, ADY has been an active participant and builder of the Middle Corridor. This route connects China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgian ports. Azerbaijan has also spearheaded initiatives to diversify the corridor by creating alternative branches, such as transporting transit cargo to Europe and open seas through Turkey alongside Georgian ports. To support this, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway line was built and opened in 2017 with ADY’s active involvement.

In 2024, Azerbaijan initiated efforts to establish another branch of the Middle Corridor along the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, connecting China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea. This was marked by the creation of the Eurasian Transport Route International Association during a September meeting in Baku. To ensure the reliable and efficient operation of existing corridors, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Georgia have established joint ventures such as Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd. and BTKI Railways LLC.

Increasing Container Transport via the Middle Corridor in 2024

As a result of sustained negotiations and active collaboration with international partners, ADY has significantly increased container transport via the Middle Corridor. In March 2024, the first container block train from Xi’an, China, arrived in Baku in just 11 days, marking a new milestone in Azerbaijan’s transit potential. Throughout the year, 358 container block trains were dispatched from China to Azerbaijan (287 already received), demonstrating the growing role of the Middle Corridor in international logistics. The total volume of freight transported via the Middle Corridor exceeded 27,000 containers, surpassing 2023 figures by more than 25 times. Our infrastructure capabilities allow for the transportation of 1,000 or more block trains through the territory of Azerbaijan this year.

In November 2024, the first export cargo was sent from Baku to China by rail to support the development of the Middle Corridor not only as an East-West route but also as a West-East transportation artery. This enables local entrepreneurs to send their goods directly to China via the Middle Corridor.

Modernization of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway

The BTK railway underwent modernization in 2024 to expand its capacity, temporarily halting operations in May 2023. By the end of 2024, the modernization work on the Georgian section of the BTK line was completed, increasing its annual capacity from 1 million tons to 5 million tons. Freight operations resumed on May 20, 2024.

After the modernization works were completed, cargo transportation was resumed starting from May 20 last year.

Since June 2024, thanks to the vast opportunities of the Middle Corridor and the modernized Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway line, test shipments have begun not only from the Xi’an port but also from Lianyungang, one of China’s largest eastern ports.

Following the completion of modernization work, a joint venture named “BTKI Railways” LLC was established last year with the participation of subsidiaries of Azerbaijan Railways (ADY) and Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway LLC. This new company will operate efficiently along the BTK route, attract new cargo, and contribute to strengthening strategic transport links in the region while significantly enhancing the potential of the Middle Corridor. Additionally, it will manage and operate the entire railway infrastructure of the Marabda-Kartsakhi section while ensuring the full repayment of Georgia’s allocated loan from the generated revenue.

A key player in strengthening the Middle Corridor’s potential is “Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd.”, a joint venture established with the participation of Georgian and Kazakh railways. Through this company, a single-window approach, a stable tariff policy, and efficient transportation conditions are being implemented. Furthermore, in 2024, China Railway Container Transport Corporation (CRCT), a subsidiary of China Railways, joined the joint venture, paving the way for a more advanced approach and the introduction of more professional transportation technologies along the Middle Corridor.

The Eurasian Transport Route, considered the southern branch of the Middle Corridor, ensures the diversification of international routes and the attraction of additional cargo flows, creating new trade opportunities for Central Asian countries, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The interest of Austrian Railways in the development of this route provides a favorable basis for realizing the cargo transportation potential along the West-East direction.
 

Continued Efforts to Realize the Strategic Potential of the North-South Corridor

Azerbaijan has significantly expanded its cooperation with neighboring countries and international financial institutions in 2024 to develop the North-South Corridor, a major strategic transit route connecting Northern Europe and Russia to the Indian Ocean.
In December, Azerbaijan and Russia signed an agreement aimed at cooperation in transit freight transportation along the North-South Corridor, particularly in the development of railway transportation. The purpose of this agreement is to define the conditions for cooperation in the development of railway infrastructure and transit shipments while increasing the potential of the Western route of the North-South Corridor. As a result, the agreement will stimulate the attraction of new cargo to railway transport, balance the growth in freight volumes, and synchronize the development pace of railway infrastructure.
At the same time, in December, ADY leadership visited Iran and met with the country’s railway officials to discuss key phases and deadlines for the development of the Astara terminal in Iran. The meeting covered the completion of terminal operations by the end of 2025, new areas of cooperation, and financing plans. Special attention was given to expanding the activities of “South Cargo Terminal” LLC, which manages the Astara terminals in both Azerbaijan and Iran.
ADY is also carrying out intensive work to develop the North-South Corridor. In September of the previous year, Azerbaijan signed a $131.5 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank for the modernization of the Sumgayit–Yalama railway line.
In 2024, ADY completed the reconstruction of the Astara freight terminal in Azerbaijan to ensure faster and more efficient handling of increasing cargo flows. This resulted in the creation of a fast customs clearance service. The freight warehouse was renovated to meet modern standards, and the terminal was equipped with the necessary machinery and security cameras.
All these measures aim to position the North-South Corridor as a more competitive and attractive transport route.

Terminal multimodal transport services are creating new opportunities for freight forwarding companies. Discounted rates are applied for the transportation and transshipment of accepted cargo. The terminal’s operations have enabled a 10-15% increase in transit cargo traffic along the North-South corridor by the end of the year.

The terminal's potential is expected to be realized for larger cargo volumes after the commissioning of the Astara–Rasht railway line.

In 2024, the volume of transit cargo through Azerbaijan’s territory along the North-South corridor reached 814,000 tons, which is more than a 28% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Reforms are being carried out to increase the efficiency of transit cargo transport.

In 2024, ADY continued its efforts to digitize railway transport infrastructure along international corridors, offering freight owners an efficient, fast, and “single-window” service package through the online tariff calculator and the “ADY Smart” platform.

In addition, to enhance the efficiency of transit transport along the corridors, ADY has initiated the improvement of management in the field of containerization and overall transit transportation based on advanced international practices, particularly from neighboring countries such as Turkey, Russia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. In this regard, the presence of companies that provide strong expeditionary services along the corridors and contribute to their development has been prioritized.

As part of the reforms implemented in this direction, as of November 1, 2024, "ADY Express" LLC has been reorganized through the merger of ADY's subsidiary companies, "ADY Container" LLC and "ADY Express" LLC. As a result, "ADY Express" LLC has taken over all functions and started providing customers with more comprehensive and efficient services for both container and wagon transportation.

A Long-Term Strategy to Transform Azerbaijan into a Transport Hub
Overall, all these efforts are being carried out within the framework of the long-term strategy defined by the "Strategic Development Directions of Azerbaijan Railways until 2030", which was approved by ADY's Supervisory Board in 2024. This strategy aims to achieve ADY’s set goals, with the primary objective being to ensure the active use of the East-West and North-South international transport corridors passing through Azerbaijan. By doing so, it seeks to significantly contribute to transforming the country into an international transport hub and increasing the annual volume of transit transportation by 2 to 4 times by 2030.

To achieve this goal, ADY prioritizes the transportation of key strategic cargo, the efficient organization of customer relations, the implementation of dynamic tariffs and effective discount mechanisms, digitalization and optimization, the expansion of supply chain activities, the introduction of new services and access to new markets, and the establishment of cooperation platforms with foreign partners—including associations, consortia, and joint ventures—through strategic initiatives.