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Iran building 2,800 km of new railways to boost cargo transit
Kheirollah Khademi, a deputy minister, said that a bulk of the new railways being built across Iran is located along the north-south and east-west transport corridors that are aimed at increasing international cargo transit via the country, Press TV wrote.
Khademi said the two main rail transport corridors in Iran are estimated to be 9,100 kilometers in length when they are completely finished.
He said the country has finished 5,100 kilometers of those railways while works are underway for another 2,800 kilometers, adding that the construction of the remaining 1,200 kilometers has yet to start.
The senior official said that a key section of the north-south railway network in Iran which connects the southeastern port of Chabahar on the Sea of Oman to Zahedan near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan has progressed by 72%.
Khademi said the Chabahar-Zahedan railway could come on line by March 2026 if the government provides some 200 trillion rials ($340 million) in funding to the project.
He said that Iran is also building some 6,000 kilometers of new highways to boost its capacity for cargo and passenger transport, adding that the country is set to inaugurate some 1,000 kilometers of those highways each year.
Iran has invested heavily in its road and railway networks in recent years as part of a government plan to increase its revenues from international cargo transit.
That has come as demand for freight transport via the Iranian territory has increased, especially from countries like Russia and India.
A key rail link was opened in northern Iran between Rasht and the Caspian Port in late June to enable direct freight transport from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf.