Mr Hamid Behbahani road and transportation minister of Iran said on his ministry intends to attract USD 25 billion of investments in the railroad sector.
Mr Behbahani said that since this volume of credit should be absorbed via foreign investments, the ministry is doing its best to fulfill this target. It seems that in light of follow ups made so far, a major portion of the said investment would be procured through inking official contracts by the yearend. He recalled that expanding the railroad system is among the fundamental concerns of the transportation modus operandi.
The official emphasized that based on Vision 2025 all provinces of the country should be connected to the railroad network. In accordance with this policy, it is on agenda to construct 16,000 kilometers of railroad in the next 15 years. He said that of course, it should be borne in mind that before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the country had about 4,500 kilometers of railroad while in the past 30 years about 5,000 kilometers of railroad have been built.
1. North South Railroad
Regarding the latest condition of the North South Railroad, the official noted that the missing link of Bandar Abbas Tehran Qazvin is complete at the present juncture. We have had about 40% progress regarding Qazvin Rasht railroad. In less than a year it will be possible to connect Iran's Astara to Azerbaijan's Astara through railroad. Some 10 kilometers of the railroad connecting Rasht to Astara has been completed.
He said that if some 8 kilometers of railroad is constructed inside Azerbaijan, it will be possible to link Iranian railroad to Astara. This railroad will serve as a bridge connecting the Persian Gulf to Europe. Furthermore, with the continuation of transport operations between Iran and Azerbaijan, it can be expected that Azerbaijan become an active transit hub."
2. Khorramabad Zol Bridge
Elsewhere in his remarks, Mr Behbahani said that this month Khorramabad Zol Bridge Freeway will become operational as one of the important road and transportation projects during the tenure of the incumbent government at the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
He said that this freeway is 104 kilometers long. It has three lanes on each side, 25 kilometers of tunnel, 5 kilometers of valley bridges and 280 small bridges. Some IRR 7 billion has been allocated for this undertaking which will be inaugurated ahead of schedule.
The minister said that going on stream of Qom Garmsar Road and building two lanes on 60 km of Saveh Hamadan Road are among other undertakings on agenda of his ministry. Referring to Tehran Isfahan electric train project which started recently, this project requires about one year for preliminary studies.
3. Railroad to Afghanistan
A senior Iranian legislator announced that the country plans to inaugurate a transit railroad line linking Iran's eastern parts to the western regions in Afghanistan in the near future in a move to facilitate transfer of goods and cargos between the two neighboring countries.
Iran had also earlier announced that the country is seeking to link its railroad network to those of the neighboring countries. Earlier reports said that Beijing plans to build a new railroad which links China to the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
4. Iran and China Railroad
Meantime, Mr Behbahani earlier said that Iran and China are in final talks over a multi billion dollar railroad project linking Iran's western provinces. The contract is worth USD 1.5 billion to USD 2 billion. Full implementation of the project will take 2.5 years.
Mr Behbahani said that Iran's western railroad is due to link the country with Iraq and then to Syria and the Mediterranean port city of Lazeqiah. He said that experts are working on a plan to link Iran's national railroad to Lebanon through Iraq and Syria. The plan will help link the Mediterranean Sea to China through Iran.
Source: Iran Daily