Tehran, Iran, December 2
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
A company from Iran and a partner from South Korea have signed a contract worth 720 million euros to jointly build 450 railbuses for use in suburban Tehran.
Korea’s Hyundai Rotem signed the agreement with Iran’s Rail Industries Development Co (IRICO) during a ceremony in Tehran, Trend correspondent reported December 2.
Two-thirds of the carriages will be manufactured in Iran and the rest in South Korea. The Asian country will also provide the finance.
The source of the finance is envisioned in Iran’s biggest credit line deal in recent years, which was signed with South Korea’s Eximbank in August. The deal envisages as much as 8 billion euros in loans provided by South Korean companies to finance various projects in Iran.
According to Said Mohammadzadeh, the CEO of the Islamic Republic Railways (RAI) the duration of the project is 78 months, and the first set of the carriages will be delivered in less than one and half years.
Abbas Akhoundi, the Iranian minister of transport, who was present at the signing ceremony said when completed, the project will create 4,700 jobs in Iran and increase the capacity of Iran's suburban transportation to 70 million passengers per year.
By the end of the contract period, we will have 600 self-propelled suburban railbuses, he noted.