BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 7
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Construction of the Rasht-Astara railway in Iran’s Gilan province requires approximately 37 trillion rials (about $880 million), said Abbas Khatibi, deputy director of Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC), Trend reports via ISNA.
Khatibi noted that this figure is based on current estimates, without considering project delays.
The deputy director added that discussions are underway to use foreign investments in this area. However, it is impossible to declare the exact amount at the moment, Khatibi said.
“Construction of the Rasht-Astara railway was started from Iran’s Astara city under a contract signed with the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters (an Iranian engineering firm controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps),” the deputy director noted.
The Rasht-Anzali-Astara railway stretches for 10 kilometers as a single road from Rasht city, further splitting into two branches, one of which goes to Anzali city, Khatibi added.
The deputy director said that the length of the Rasht-Astara railway is 160 kilometers.
Khatibi added that Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway has been the missing link of the International North-South Transport Corridor for many years. Last March, the Qazvin-Rasht railway was commissioned with funds worth 50 trillion rials (about $1.1 billion), the deputy director noted.
Presently, only the Rasht-Astara railway in Iran remains unfinished in the International North-South Transport Corridor. Once this railway is built, cargo will be transported from India’s Delhi port to Finland’s Helsinki port. Iranian officials say that with the commissioning of the railway, Iran’s product transit will reach 50 million tons.