BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec.1
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The Rasht-Astara railway line, which is located in the Gilan Province (northern Iran) is of great importance to Iran, Deputy Director of the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC), Abbas Khatibi told Trend.
According to him, the Rasht-Astara railway line is a major link, connecting other lines to Iran's railway network.
The official added that the Rasht-Astara railway is the only railway line on the North-South Transport Corridor that has not been built yet.
After the launch of the Qazvin-Rasht railway, the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway was to begin. At present, report on the construction of the railway line has been prepared.
“The Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company wants the railway to be built at once. Both the climate of the region and the project itself require it. Taking into account the environmental conditions of the region, the construction of the railway line in different ways is in the spotlight,” he said.
Khatibi noted that it is proposed to use more bridges on this railway line in order to cause less damage to land plots, as well as to purchase less land from landowners. Preference will be given to the use of modern methods in the construction of bridges on this railway line.
The deputy director also pointed out that so far, modern methods have not been used in Iran to build bridges on this length of railway line. These methods have been used only on small bridges.
Reportedly, a large part of the 167 km long Rasht-Astara railway line crossing on agriculturally productive areas. About 80 km of the railway line will be built with bridges or tunnels, and the rest will be built on land.
According to Khatibi, there is a need for a number of technical and technological equipment for the construction of the railway. Necessary funds for the construction of the railway will be provided by both foreign and local investments.
“Efforts are being made to ensure that funds for the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway line are not provided by the Iranian state budget. There are several ways to secure financing in this regard, so hopefully the result will be achieved. In the near future, good news will be released to the public. All information in this regard has been sent to the Plan and Budget Organization of Iran,” he said.
The deputy director emphasized that a contract will be signed with a local contractor for the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway. The chosen contractor is obligated to have modern technology to work on the project. Iran's private sector can use foreign experts in this regard.
The foundation of the ‘North-South Transport Corridor’ was laid on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran and India on September 12, 2000.
In total, 13 countries have ratified the agreement, including Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Russia, Turkey, etc.
The purpose of the creating corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to North and West Europe. Delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, it is expected to be reduced to 3 weeks via North-South Transport Corridor.
The route of the North-South corridor is North Europe - Russia and West Europe - Russia, and in three directions:
Caucasus - Persian Gulf (West route);
Central Asia - Persian Gulf (East route);
Caspian Sea - Iran - Persian Gulf (Central route).
A 1.4-km road has been laid from the railway bridge over the Astarachay to the cargo terminal built in the territory of Iran.
The 175 km long Qazvin-Rasht railway was officially put into operation on March 6, 2019 to connect Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network within the corridor.
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