Polzug Intermodal has commenced container block railroad service along the TRACECA route, between the Georgian Black Sea ports of Poti and Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea.
The service started just one year after planning and intensive negotiations commenced.
Polzug's Managing Director, Walter Schulze-Freyberg, said he is "delighted with this new service-offering to shippers globally. The Caucasus and Central Asia are growth markets. Interest in our block train through the Caucasus has been absolutely tremendous."
The first block train on this route was organized by Polzug's Silk Road Express Georgia LLC affiliate in Poti. The goal is to build up rail container traffic between Poti and Baku to a fixed timetable as quickly as possible. The provision of a block train link enjoys support from the political world, and the Georgian and Azeri Railways see container traffic as a promising future business. "All companies and institutions involved, including the two ports and the Customs authorities, are proving cooperative and are supportive of this scheme," said Mr. Schulze-Freyberg.
The route through the Caucasus to Central Asia is an attractive and competitive alternative to the routes from the North Sea ports via Poland/Byelorussia and Ukraine/Russia, as well as from the Baltic seaports via Russia. From Baku onward shipment is by feeder across the Caspian Sea to Aktau, where railcars are already waiting to provide onward transport to Central Asia.
