Azerbaijan, Baku, Jun.24/ Trend F.Karimov/
The low speed rail transport system in Iran has damaged the country's exports, ISNA quoted Iran chamber of commerce vice chairman Gholamhossein Shafei as saying.
"The average speed of rail transport in Iran is 12-15 kilometers per hour, which is very low compared with other countries", he noted.
This issue has created many problems for Iranian exporters in recent years, he said, adding that it may even stop the transit of goods via the Central Asian countries.
Over one million tons of goods were transited via Iran in the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (ended on April 20), showing 13.5 percent rise compared with the same period in the previous year, IRNA quoted Iranian Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Shahriyar Afandizadeh as saying.
Some 94 percent of the goods, equaling 994,000 tons, were transited by roads, he added.
The transited consignments mostly consisted of fuel, construction materials, cotton, home appliances, vehicles, foodstuff and fertilizers, the official noted.
In April, Afandizadeh said that over 11.6 million tons of goods were transited through Iran last year.
Afandizadeh said that 106 countries transited their goods via Iran, adding that Iraq, China, the UAE, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan transited the highest amounts of goods.