BEIJING (IRIB News) – Iran and China signed a deal according to which 50 passenger trains over the next two years will be sold to Iran worth nearly 60 million dollars.

China's state-run Changchun Track Passenger Train Co. will sell double-decker trains as well as provide spare parts, tools and technical services, according to a Xinhua news agency report on Monday.

The deal, formalized on Sunday with a signing ceremony in Tehran, is worth 47.65 million euros (58.85 million dollars), Xinhua said.

The trains will be delivered to Iran within the next 28 months.

Tehran-Mashhad express railway sets off

Feasibility studies for setting up an express railway on route from Tehran to Mashhad was launched, Minister of Roads and Transportation told IRIB News on Sunday.

Mohammad Rahmati added that construction of the route would be started immediately after necessary agreement was reached.

He estimated that the construction of a railway with speeds of up to 250 kilometer per hour would cost 625 billion dollars.

Private sector, a boon for railway

Mohammad Rahmati on Sunday acknowledged the purchase of 3500 wagons by the railway private sector to join the national fleet.

Interviewed by IRIBNEWS, Rahmati said that the government would no longer need to invest on this sector. Noting that the best way to transit goods is the railway system, Rahmati said, "The railway system should be expanded across the country as well as the great volumes of transit."

"The Ministry's policy is to provide for the costs of cargo railway through investment of the private sector.

The Transportation Minister said that by implementing the new policy, private sector took a role in cargo railway as of the past year so that the administration no longer has to invest in the field.

Rahmati referred to the expansion of the railway system and the completion of the Bam-Zahedan railroad project as the most important projects of the Transportation Ministry in the current Iranian year, started on March 21.