BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 22
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
As many as 4 railway lines will be put into operation in Iran by the end of current Iranian year (from March 20, 2020 to March 21, 2021), deputy director of Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC) Abbas Khatibi told ISNA, Trend reports.
Khatibi stressed that the Khaf-Herat, Yazd-Eqlid, Bostanabad-Tabriz and Rasht-Caspian railways are to be put into operation.
He added that 4 more important railway lines will be put into operation in the next Iranian year (to start March 21, 2021).
The deputy director noted that these railways are the Hamadan-Sanandaj, Chabahar-Zahedan, Mianeh-Ardabil and Mobarakeh-Shahrekord.
“It is hoped that the Chabahar-Zahidan railway will be commissioned by the end of the current government (until August 2021),” he said.
Khatibi said that 14 km of rails have been laid on the Mianeh-Ardabil railway, 12 km on the Bostanabad-Tabriz railway and 8 km on the Hamadan-Sanandaj railway.
The total length of the Khaf-Herat railway between Iran and Afghanistan is 137 kilometers. The Iranian side will complete the construction of the railway by the end of the current Iranian year.
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.
The Hamadan-Sanandaj railway is being built in three parts. The length of the first part is 64 km, the second part is 56 km, the third part is 30 km.
The length of the Tabriz-Bostanabad railway is 70 kilometers.
The length of the Rasht-Caspian railway is 36 kilometers.
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.