BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 14
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
The infrastructure work on the Ardabil-Mianeh railway between Ardabil and East Azerbaijan provinces of northwestern Iran will be completed in the current Iranian year (began March 20, 2020), said Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami, Trend reports citing the ministry.
According to Eslami, currently, there is about 85 percent progress in infrastructure work.
"The Ardabil-Mianeh railway is one of the most difficult and unique projects in Iran. The 175-kilometer-long Ardabil-Mianeh railway has a 24-kilometer-long tunnel and a 35-kilometer-long bridge,” he said.
The official said that the Ardabil-Mianeh railway is one of the priorities of the current Iranian government (the current government came to power in August 2013) and is expected to be commissioned by the end of the government's term (August 2021).
Eslami added that the Ardabil-Mianeh railway will transport not only passengers but also cargo, as the Ardabil Province is one of the main centers of agriculture in Iran.
The governor of Iran’s Ardabil Province Akbar Behnamju said that 3.4 trillion rials (about $80.9 million) in funds allocated for construction of Ardabil-Mianeh railway in the current Iranian year (began March 20, 2020), and another 7.3 trillion rials (about $173 million) is planned for the first half of the year.
According to Behnamju, a total of 14 trillion rials (about $333 million) has been spent on the construction of the railway so far.
The construction of Iran's Ardabil-Mianeh railway began in 2015.