At a ceremony attended by Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development, Abbas Akhoundi and a host of Russian and Iranian officials,the construction operation for electrifying the train line, linking north-central Iran to the northeastern border with Turkmenistan, officially kicked off.
The project will double the maximum speed on the link, while its capacity will grow fourfold to 10 million tons per year, according to the head of Russian Railways, Oleg Belozerov, who is visiting Iran to see the start of the work. The railway stretches to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, linking Central Asia to the Persian Gulf and beyond.
“It will also increase safety and reduce emissions into the atmosphere. All this creates conditions for the growth of cargo turnover along the international transport corridor ‘North-South’ and intensification of economic relations in the Caspian region,”.
Abbas Akhoundi, Iran's minister of roads and urban development said at the ceremony:
"Today, we kick off a very big and important project for Islamic Republic of Iran. This project is crucial both economically and in terms of improving the railway industry. We will see technical innovations and progress in the railway industry".
In an exclusive interview with Iran press news agency, Akhondi said: "We are negotiating various big projects both with this (Russian) company and others. We will announce the agreements after they have been finalized. We have important cooperation with Iranian companies. We will use their experiences. Transfer of the new technology to internal companies has been agreed at this contract."
The Russian side had already signed an agreement to provide 1.2 billion euros finance to electrify the 430-kilometer-long railroad connecting the city of Garmsar in Semnan Province with the city of Incheh Borun to its northeast in Golestan Province.
The operation started from 2 points in Sari and Gorgan. it is noteworthy that the rail track in the Garmsar-Incheh Burn range is one-way with a length of 495 kilometers in Semnan province and ends in Golestan province. Portions of the railway line also pass through Tehran and Mazandaran provinces.
The first part of the route to be constructed has a length of 203 km and starts at an altitude of 851 meters above sea level and passes through the Alborz mountain range with a maximum elevation of 2115 meters above sea level.
The second part of the railway passes from areas adjacent to the Caspian Sea, which is in the plains.
The rail track, among the first in Iran with a history of 80 years, extends to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and links the Central Asia to the Persian Gulf and beyond.
The project will be financed by the Russian government and will be implemented in 36 months, which includes manufacturing all electric locomotives inside Iran, electrifying 495 kilometers of railway and building 32 stations and 95 tunnels.
Russia will be financing the project as part of its $5 billion credit line for infrastructure projects in Iran. Russian state lender Vnesheconombank will grant another 2-billion-euro export loan to the Islamic Republic.
