Tehran, Iran, June 18
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
The Tehran-Mashhad railway will be electrified in four years, said Islamic Republic Railways Co. Deputy Director Said Mohammadzadeh.
A budget of €2 billion has been estimated for the project, he told Mehr news agency June 18.
For the time being the technical studies of the project are underway, he noted.
He further stated that the Iranian contractors started talks with foreign partners to find the needed funds.
The line is one of the busiest in Iran. A first-in-its-kind in the country project to electrify the much used Tehran-Mashhad railway has been waiting to get accomplished for years.
A June 9 report said the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) and Islamic Republic of Iran Railways had considered a plan for financing a railway project which was most probably to be the Tehran-Mashhad railway electrification.
The EXIM Bank was expected to provide 85 percent of funds required to launch the project.