During his recent visit to Ankara, Saeid Rasouli said, “At the recent meeting of the railways of Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Turkey, a document was signed to establish the rail road linking Chinese corridor.”

He continued that the participants in the meeting agreed to transport container cargo from China to Turkey and from there to Europe via this corridor.

Rasouli described the event as an important and a new chapter in transport relations between the two countries, and said it would promote economic cooperation and prosperity in the countries along the route.

According to the Chairman of the Board and President of RAI, as per an agreement between the mentioned countries all cargo will be transported at the same rate.

Iran currently has two contracts with France’s rail transport company Alstom and Germany’s Siemens to build locomotives, Nematzadeh said.

The country itself has a sizable capacity for construction of railroad cars. The minister said Iran can produce five passenger train coaches and 3,000 freight wagons as well as 50-60 locomotives a year.

Iran is a vast country, with a territory more than 1.6 million square kilometers. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea in the north and the Persian Gulf in the south which are linked through the famous Trans-Iranian Railway.

The line is famous for being used by the Anglo-Soviet occupiers in 1940s to ship arms supplies during World War II.

Iran is known to have established the world’s most ancient transportation system. The Persian Royal Road in the 5th century BC stretched over 2,400 kilometers which spanned the entire territory under the Achaemenid empire.

The country was also home to one of the world’s first urban centers in Susa more than 6,400 years ago.

The post Iran to cooperate in linking Chinese corridor to Europe appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Nourollah Beyranvand, the deputy head of RAI for planning and investment, said, “Many railway projects have not achieved their goals due to lack of fund; so we are seeking to plan a fruitful process for an active and effective cooperation in the field of investment making”, IRIB reported.

RAI’s approach is achieving the highest level of private sector’s presence in the railway projects, the official underlined.

Last month, Managing Director of RAI Saeed Mohammadzadeh announced that transporting loads via railway can save up to $600 million in comparison with road transportation, adding that domestic rail network is ready to add 30 billion tons of goods to its present capacity.

The post RAI to hold conference on investment opportunities in railways on Nov. 12 appeared first on Iran News Daily.