Tehran to expand intercity rail transport with four new railbus corridors
Tehran Province is advancing a series of short-term initiatives to boost intercity rail transport, including completing rail lines to Parand and Varamin, establishing seven new intercity stops, overhauling train fleets, launching a suburban rail company, and deploying railbuses across four interprovincial corridors, a senior provincial official said.
Kamal Mirjafariyan, the deputy coordinator for civil affairs at Tehran Province, told ISNA that while intercity rail development falls under the mandate of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Company, the governorate is actively pursuing these measures based on provincial needs.
He noted that leveraging existing rail capacity for intercity transport is part of the government’s current agenda, with four railbus corridors stretching from Tehran now under active development.
“These rail capacities will be used to operate railbuses,” Mirjaafariyan said, detailing the four corridors. The first runs from Tehran toward Hashtgerd, with a branch line extending to Baghestan, Shahriar, and Malard. The second extends from Tehran through Robat Karim and Parand, ultimately reaching Hamedan in the west of the country. The third corridor connects Tehran to Qom in central Iran and will serve both interprovincial and railbus traffic. The fourth heads southeast toward Varamin and Garmsar.
Currently, around six million intercity trips are made annually by rail in the province. “With the completion of infrastructure — rails, stations, and additional trains — this capacity could increase manyfold,” he said.