BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 31. The construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line in Iran, which is located on the east part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), continues, the Deputy Director of the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC), Abbas Khatibi said, Trend reports citing Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
According to Khatibi, The length of Chabahar-Zahidan railway line is 628 kilometers, and it reaches 730 kilometers, taking into account the railway lines at the railway stations. There is currently 61 percent physical progress in the construction of this railway line.
The deputy director added that in connection with the construction of the mentioned railway line, it was decided to allocate 300 million euro from the National Development Fund of Iran (NDF) in 2019. So far, 250 million euro has been allocated for the construction of the railway. Regarding the allocation of the remaining 50 million euro, an appropriate decision is expected from the Iranian government.
Khatibi also noted that the Chabahar-Zahidan railway will enable Central Asia, Afghanistan and the northern neighbors of Iran to access international waters within the framework of the INSTC.
“The speed of passenger trains on this railway line will be 160 km/h, while freight trains will be 120 km/h. In the first year of its operation, 927,000 passengers and 2.8 million tons of cargo are expected to be transported through the railway line. Meanwhile, in the next years, more than 2 million passengers and 7.7 million tons of cargo are expected to be transported through the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line annually," he said.
The foundation of the ‘International 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, Türkiye, etc.
The purpose of creating a 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.
---
Follow the author on Twitter:@BaghishovElnur