BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 21
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The Khaf-Herat railway between Iran and Afghanistan will be commissioned by the presidents of the two countries this autumn, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports citing the ministry’s official website.
According to Eslami, with the commissioning of this railway, the railways of Iran and Afghanistan will be connected.
Eslami added that Afghanistan will build this railway to Herat.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has fulfilled its commitment to improve the Khaf-Herat railway," he said.
The minister said that the Yazd-Eqlid railway will be commissioned in the current Iranian year (began March 20, 2020).
"As for the Chabahar-Zahedan railway, it is one of the most difficult railway projects. It is planned to put this railway into operation by the end of the term of the current government (August 2021),” he said.
The minister noted that it is planned to put into operation 1,200-1,400 kilometers of railways by the end of the current government's activity.
The Yazd-Eqlid railway is located between the Yazd and Fars provinces of Iran. The length of this railway is 278 kilometers. So far, more than $100 million funds have been spent on the construction of this railway and about $190 million funds are needed.
Construction of the 720-kilometer Chabahar-Zahedan railway began in 2010. In 2014, the construction of this railway was accelerated by changing the contractor. So far, 17 trillion rials (about $404 million) has been spent on the construction of this railway, and it is estimated that 40 trillion rials (about $952 million) will be required to complete the project. After commissioning, 100 million tons of cargo will be transported by the railway a year.
About 300 million euros have been allocated by the National Development Fund of Iran for the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway.