Chabahar-Zahedan railway to see transport of 8m tons of cargo, 2m passengers
The deputy of the construction and development of railways, ports, and airports of Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company reported on Sunday that with the completion of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line by the year 2041, Iran is predicted to witness the annual transportation of 2 million passengers and 8 million tons of cargo through the strategic railway line.
Abbas Khatibi said the completion of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line is 635 kilometers long and has 89% physical progress, and all efforts are focused on the completion of track laying operations on the route by the end of the calendar year (March 20).
“More than 34 trillion rials have been invested and spent on this project to date, which, of course, its current value is more than 100 trillion rials,” he said.
Khatibi added that the 158-kilometer Zahedan-Khash route was inaugurated in 2022, and currently, the completion of the remaining 477 kilometers is on the agenda.
“The major achievement is the laying of 353 kilometers of track on this route over the past year, of which 200 kilometers have been completed in the last 4 months, despite all issues and problems,” he said.
“With the good support of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and the Planning and Budget Organization, we succeeded in achieving unprecedented records in railway construction on this route.”
Khatibi underlined that the main goal of the project is to connect the oceanic port of Shahid Beheshti in Chabahar to an annual capacity of 8 million tons, as well as its very good hinterland, to the railway network.
“This project is not merely a provincial or national project, but in addition to transforming the east of the country in terms of traffic and the movement of goods and passengers, as well as tourist aspects, it is also considered by eastern neighboring countries, Indians, and CIS countries so that they can also utilize this capacity.”