TEHRAN– Railway official Hossein Ashouri said volume of transit in the country’s rail industry had grown by 61 per cent in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (began March 21). Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company for Operation Affairs Hossein Ashouri, speaking to a live IRIB program, said […]
TEHRAN– Railway official Hossein Ashouri said volume of transit in the country’s rail industry had grown by 61 per cent in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (began March 21).
Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company for Operation Affairs Hossein Ashouri, speaking to a live IRIB program, said “in the nine-month period, one million and 150 thousand tons of goods were transported through rail.” He also estimated that the figure will rise to 1.6 million tons by year end.
“According to the national vision for the year 2020, railway transit capacity in the country is expected to climb to five million tons,” he continued.
Ashouri however underlining that building trust in goods owners and creating necessary infrastructure were main keys to reaching stipulated goals.
“Although studies of the Comprehensive Transport Plan began 10 years ago, they have failed to yield satisfactory outcomes,” contended the rail official.
He noted that support from the government and Foreign Ministry were prerequisites to better communications with neighboring countries and creation of transport corridors.
Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company for Operation Affairs recalled that capacity of rail transport industry in Iran had plunged by 28 per cent during 2014-2015 mainly due to excessive bureaucracy and lack of profit-seeking visions.
“Current transit capacity in the country stands at 50 million tons though much of that remains untouched as a result of existing obstacles,” said the official.
Hossein Ashouri pointed to aging fleet as one bottleneck in development of railway industry asserting that a contract had been signed in the ongoing year for renovation and modernization of 65 thousand vehicles in the country’s road transport fleet.
He further referred to imbalance between supply and demand as yet another major problem faced by the road transport sector which needs to be tackled appropriately.
