The official added that both sides have been planning to launch this route for years, noting that the studies indicate that Tehran-Istanbul railroad could bring in considerable profits for the investors.

He said TCDD and Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism are eager for this route to start operating.

Earlier in August, the first direct train route between the two neighbors’ capitals, Tehran and Ankara, was resumed after a four-year halt.

The Passenger train services resumed on Tehran-Tabriz-Van railroad were also launched late June after they were four years of suspension.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Turkey was the most popular overseas destination for Iranian travelers in 2018, accounting for 41% of all visits abroad.

Turkey’s largest city Istanbul, the eastern province of Van and the southern province of Antalya are the most popular destinations for Iranian vacationers.

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Accordingly, Plan and Budget Organization promised to finance 40 percent of the credit for domestic production of wagon while Iran-Venezuela Bi-National Bank vowed to finance other 40 percent of the credit needed for manufacturing of wagon, he said, adding, “the remaining 20 percent shall be borne by the applicants willing to purchase wagon.”

According to him, entry of new fleet of domestic production of wagon to the rail network registered a considerable 64 percent growth in the first four months of the current year (March 21 – July 21) as compared to the last year’s corresponding period.

He went on to say that a number of 172 wagon units were added to the rail network of the country in the same period.

It should be noted that Iran-Venezuela Bi-National Bank is an international financial institution that was founded in 2010 with an aim to develop commercial ties between Iran and Venezuela.

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“At the moment we have no problem in producing good quality cargo and passenger wagons. The self-propelled locomotive is being produced in Iran by cooperation with Hyundai. The national production volume is increasing and we hope to reach a level of self-sufficiency,” he said.

“There is a possibility to produce freight and passenger locomotives in the country and today our passenger trains are completely produced by MAPNA Group and we have 150 locomotives in the network, while the production of freight wagons and their transportation continues,” he noted.

Rasouli recently attended the International union of railways (UIC) conference where he held bilateral meetings with officials from Turkey, Jordan and Syria during the event.

The official expressed Iran’s readiness to export engineering services to the mentioned countries.

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Boosting efficiency of railway fleet and network through benefiting from the most available capacities and supporting domestic production in developing passenger and cargo fleet are the two major priorities of RAI in the current Iranian year (ending on March 20, 2020).

“To materialize this target, connecting the cargo hubs to the national network via building 512 kilometers of railway is being followed up”, Rasouli announced on July 14.

He said the 512 kilometers of railway have the capacity of transporting 20 million tons of cargoes per year, and put the total cargo transported via railway during the past Iranian calendar year at 46 million tons.

He added that linking the cargo centers to the railway network has been started and implanting the scheduled plan for the current year is on the agenda, while major cargo centers are planned to be linked to the railway based on a multi-year schedule.

Rasouli announced that his organization and the ministry of industry have come to an agreement on supporting domestic production in the railway sector.

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“Iran will cooperate with Jordan on technical and engineering sector and improving railway infrastructure and will produce wagons and construct railroads for the country,” he said, “Jordanians are to visit Iranian rail companies in this regard.”

“In the Middle-East, we severely seek expansion of ties with regional countries,” he said referring to the held RAME in Aqaba, “We have singed bilateral protocols with each of Turkey and Turkmenistan and we have also signed a trilateral protocol with Syria and Iraq.”

“Iran enjoys high manufacturing capacities in railway sector and is ready to exports products to regional and neighboring countries to find new markets for its companies,” the RAI head added.

The 22nd RAME was held on November 26, 2018 in Isfahan, Iran in the presence of UIC Director General, RAME chairman and Vice-Chairmen, Acting Governor General of Isfahan, UIC coordinator for Middle East, Railways Presidents of the member states, some RAI managers, and representative of ECO.

Addressing the Isfahan assembly, the time Managing Director of RAI Saied Mohammadzadeh called for establishment of an integrated railway network in the region saying, “Iran expects this regional assembly meeting to focus on establishing an integrated network and a coordinated management in order to achieve higher efficiency.”

The official further praised UIC’s supports for Middle East railway activities stressing the needs for acceleration of cooperation and strong support for regional programs and projects.

According to Mohammadzadeh, due to its strategic location, Iran has a privileged position which makes it potent for becoming a transit hub in the region.

Having several free trade zones, especially in the Persian Gulf region, the existence of a wide network of roads in the country, low prices for fuel and energy carriers in Iran, and a suitable rail transport network in the country, are some of the country’s advantages.

Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE are members of UIC regional assembly for Middle East.

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“We are ready to implement the project in Iraq, expecting the Iraqi government to allocate the intended land of the project to us,” he added.

In early June Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami had named holding talks with Iraqi side on selecting a contractor for Shalamcheh-Basra railway among his ministry’s top priorities during the current Iranian year (ending on March 20, 2020).

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As Khademi informed, according to the order of the Iranian road minister, implementation of this railway project has been accelerated in Iran and to improve the trend in Afghanistan as well, Iran is to train some Afghan workers.

Khaf-Herat Railroad (139 kilometers long) is part of Iran-Afghanistan rail corridor. The project, started in the fiscal year of 2007-2008, connects Iran’s eastern city of Khaf to Afghanistan’s western city of Ghoryan.

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The trains were stopped in Dalbandin after the track was damaged.

Earlier in January, another freight train was derailed in Chaghi district due to failing of engine, which damaged about 100 feet of the railway track.

The Quetta-Taftan railway is one of four main railways in Pakistan, operated and maintained by Pakistan Railways. The railway is connected to the Iranian city of Zahedan.

Pakistan Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad had earlier said that the Quetta-Taftan-Zahedan rail track will be upgraded on soon.

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Tehran–Qom–Isfahan High Speed Rail is the first truly high-speed rail project in Iran, currently under construction. The rail line would decrease travel times between Tehran and Isfahan, passing through Qom. It also connects Isfahan and Qom to Imam Khomeini International Airport, the most important international airport of Iran, making international air travel for passengers from Qom and Isfahan much more convenient.

Iran signed a contract with China Railway Group Limited, also known as CREC, to build this line. Although the contract was signed in 2015 with an estimated value of €1.8 billion, its scope and value are expected to expand.

The ex-Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi ordered the redesign of the route to make it more efficient compared to the previous design, including the relocation of the train stations in Tehran, Qom and Isfahan.

CREC is a Chinese construction company listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The major shareholder of the company is the state-owned China Railway Engineering Corporation.

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He underlined that Iran’s railway industry is aimed at overcoming the current US sanctions.

Rasouli had previously informed of allocation of 20 trillion rials by the Planning and Budget Organization for renovation of 1000 passenger and freight wagons and also locomotives through benefiting from domestic capabilities in the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 21, 2019).

The RAILEXPO 2019 is being held from 9-12 June at Tehran International Exhibition and under the patronage of Iran’s Ministry of Road and Urban Development and full support of RAI.

The exhibition is attended by high-ranking Iranian authorities including ministers of road and urban development, industry, mine and trade, the head of RAI and also top managers from Iranian Railways. As reported, officials and representatives from railway companies of Europe, Asia, Middle East and CIS regions may also take part in the event.

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