PROSPECTS FOR NORTH–SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR

International transport corridors play a leading role in shaping an integrated global transport services market.
In this context, the objective of the paper was to study the current state of North–South international transport corridor (hereinafter referred to as ITC), which connects India, Iran, the Gulf countries through the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia with Russia and the countries of Europe. A brief review of scientific publications on the subject under consideration allows to draw a general conclusion from opinions of various authors: it is necessary not only to develop the transport corridor infrastructure, but also to solve organizational, regulatory and tariff issues. 
The main advantage of North–South ITC is that most of the route passes by land and the route itself is shorter than the sea route, providing thus significant acceleration of cargo delivery.
As a result of development of the railway network in the Caspian region and Central Asia, today there are several options for the ITC route. The western route to Iran through Azerbaijan was examined in more detail. It is expected that the missing railway section Astara–Rasht will be completed in the nearest future. Test shipments of goods from India to Russia (and vice versa) have already been carried out via western route. 
The characteristics of the route options by transportation distance, delivery time and cost of cargo transportation are given. Today, cost of transportation along the western branch of ITC significantly exceeds cost of sea transportation through the Suez Canal. This and other factors, reducing the efficiency and competitiveness of transportation via ITC, it is proposed to first organize container transportation on ITC section between Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Such transportations might be especially in demand for food products (including perishable goods) in direction from south to north. To this end, it is proposed to organize a scheduled container train service along Astara–Moscow–St. Petersburg route using new Freight Express 2.0 transportation technology. 

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