Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan have inaugurated a major railroad project in the northern Iranian province of Gilan, which is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and reportedly connects the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via rail.
The Rasht-Caspian Railway Project was launched on Thursday during a ceremony attended by Iran's acting President Mohammad Mokhber, Minister of Transport and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash, aide to the president of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev, Governor of Astrakhan Oblast Igor Babushkin and the ambassadors of the neighboring countries.
The new railway line will allow direct freight transport from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf via Iran's existing railway network.
Kheirullah Khademi, CEO of the company specializing in the construction and development of the Iran’s transportation infrastructure said that this rail route is the last section of the North-South Sea Corridor.
The load carrying capacity of this rail line is a maximum of seven million tons, and its passenger carrying capacity is 600,000 people, Khademi added.
Earlier, Iran’s transport minister Mehrdad Bazrpash described the opening of the railway as a historic development which will significantly boost the country’s cargo transit capacities.
In recent years, Iran has expanded its transport network in order to increase transit revenues from regional and international trade corridors.