Iran and Turkey have signed three documents to expand transnational rail services linking them to Pakistan, Afghanistan and China, an official says.
A joint railway project linking eastern Iran to western Afghanistan was inaugurated on Thursday with presidents of the two neighboring countries delivering remarks through video-conference.
The first consignment of Iranian export goods has arrived in Afghanistan through the long-awaited Khaf-Herat railroad, which is slated to be officially inaugurated in coming days.
Iran has connected its eastern rail network to Afghanistan through the Khaf-Herat project which once completed would connect Afghanistan to Turkey and Europe.
The Iranian government has picked up a new contractor for construction of a key railway extension into the Iraqi territory with sources saying that the bidder would provide full finances worth 100 million euros for the project.
Khaf-Herat railroad project is scheduled to be launched this autumn (Sept. 22-Dec. 20), says the deputy head of Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructure Company, affiliated with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
A senior Iraqi official says that work for a key rail link connecting the country to the neighboring Iran will begin in the very near future.
Iran’s transportation minister says the length of the country’s railway network will double in the next five years to reach 28,000 kilometers as the country keeps making efforts to encourage increased rail freight services.
Iran is pushing to boost infrastructure spending with a plan to launch 1,200 kilometers of new railway lines, according to the country’s transportation minister.
Iran has launched a free tourists train between the northwestern cities of Tabriz and Jolfa. The five-railcar train with the capacity of 400 passengers will carry tourists in both directions on a daily schedule.