The railway line Astara (Azerbaijan) - Astara (Iran) is a continuation of the Qazvin - Resht railway, which, in turn, is the core section of the OSJD railway transport corridor No. 11 and the international transport corridor “North-South”, connecting through Azerbaijan the railway networks of Iran and Russia.

The Astara - Resht - Qazvin railway project envisages the construction of a new railway line in Iran that will connect Astara in Azerbaijan with Astara, Resht and Qazvin in Iran.

The agreement for the construction of this railway line was signed in 2005. Within its framework, it is planned to build railway sections on the territory of Iran with a length of about 350 kilometers, and on the territory of Azerbaijan - a section between Astara and the Azerbaijani-Iranian border of 8.5 kilometers long, as well as to reconstruct the existing railway on the territory of Azerbaijan. In 2009, the Iranian side began to construct the railway section between the cities of Resht and Qazvin.

At the initial stage it is planned to transport goods in the volume of 6 million tons per year through this corridor, and further on - 15-20 million tons of goods per year. The construction of the Qazvin - Resht railway is already being considered as one of the most complex railway projects of Iran, as the line passes through an aggregate and difficult mountainous terrain. Throughout the railway line, 22 tunnels and 15 bridges with a total length of 25 and 8 kilometers, respectively, will be built.