Tehran, Iran, March 10
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad – Trend:
The inauguration of the Qazvin-Rasht railroad which was expected to take place within the coming days has been postponed due to technical reasons, a senior transportation official told Trend.
Kheirollah Khademi, an Iranian deputy minister of Road and Urban Development, has said that the railway segment is very likely to become fully operational in the first quarter of the coming Iranian calendar year (starting March 21).
Saying that about 25 kilometer-long of various tunnels has been constructed along the Qazvin-Rasht segment, he added that collapse of an under-construction tunnel was among the main reasons behind the delay in the construction of the railway.
Another reason was a six-month delay by Khouzestan Oxin Steel Company in delivering the required ST52 beams for the construction of two bridges along the railway.
The railway segment is a part of the International North-South Transport Corridor which is meant to connect Northern Europe with Southeast Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia. At the initial stage, it is planned to transport 5 million tons of cargo per year through the corridor and over 10 million tons of cargo in future.
In order to complete the mega project of the North-South Corridor, three railroad segments connecting the northwestern city of Qazvin to the border city of Astara should be constructed inside Iran.
The first segment is Qazvin-Rasht, which, according to Iranian officials, will be completed in the coming months.
The second segment connecting the cities of Rasht and Astara is expected to be constructed within three years with Azerbaijan’s financial aid.
In the meantime, the sides have already inaugurated the Astara-Astara segment, which connects the two border cities of the same name in Iran and Azerbaijan.