Deutsche Bahn, a leading German railway company, plans to use the International North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) and begin delivering goods from Europe to Iran via Azerbaijan Republic, said a report.

Representatives of the German railway operator said that they were interested in using NSTC, which is expected to provide a faster and more efficient trade connectivity between Europe and Southeast Asia, added the Iran Daily News report.

The International North–South Transport Corridor is the ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, etc.

Dry runs of two routes were conducted in 2014, the first was Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second was Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali.

The issue of using this route was raised in a recent meeting in Tehran between the heads of railways of Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the German operator's officials, the report said.

The meeting discussed prospects of development of the North-South international transit corridor, and exchanged views on transportation of goods from India and Gulf states to Europe and vice-versa.

The participants also exchanged views on the participation of Deutsche Bahn in the transporting goods through the route. The German company will send its first container to Iran in late November via Azerbaijan using the transit path, added the report.