He put the number of major rail projects launched over the past three years at 5, beside the plan to open two other projects in the coming year.

The deputy minister made the remarks in his visit to the Doroud-Khorramabad Railway project and pointed to the new credits allocated to this rail project and added, “sufficient financial resources are first defined for mega rail projects in the country which can accelerate construction of the project.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Abbas Khatibi said that 30 percent of the total length of the Doroud-Khorramabad Railway project has been equipped with a tunnel.

Over the past three years, five giant rail projects were put into operation, he said, adding, “planning is underway for launching two giant rail projects in 2020.”

Late last year, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development for Construction and Development of Railways, Ports, and Airports had said that Iran’s rail network will be connected to Afghanistan soon.