Tehran, Iran, Feb. 18
Trend:
The Managing Director of Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC) Kheirollah Khademi announced that the 205-km Qazvin-Rasht railway will be opened in March with the presence of the president.
“The Qazvin-Rasht railway is a regional super-railway project. This railroad is the largest and most important railway project in the country,” Khademi said, Trend reports citing Fars News Agency.
“The completion of this railroad could be a significant development in international passenger transportation, while also affecting the domestic passenger transportation. It also facilitates our access to the northern and southern ports of the country,” he said.
“The special feature of this railway project is its impact on international commodity exchanges,” said Khademi. “If we complete the Rasht-Astara railway and connect our railways to the rail networks of Azerbaijan, Russia and ultimately Europe, then the East-West or Southeast Asia-Europe link will be completed by Iran.”
Khademi stated that the sea transportation of goods from Southeast Asia to Europe or Russia takes 36 days, but this railroad will reduce the time to 16 days, while the cost of using this route is 30 percent less, which reduces the cost of goods.
He said $440 million was spent on this project, but its value is estimated at more than $1.2 billion.