TEHRAN- Iranian railway fleet received 526 new domestically-made and renovated wagons worth 7.94 trillion rials (about $27.379 million) in a ceremony on Tuesday.

Of the mentioned 526 wagons, 500 were the new freight wagons worth 6.6 trillion rials (about $22.758 million), one was a new passenger wagon worth 160 billion rials (about $551,724), and 25 were renovated passenger wagons worth 1.18 trillion rials (about $4.068 million).

The ceremony to add these wagons to the railway fleet was attended by senior transport officials, including Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi, and Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI) Seyed Miad Salehi.

The development of the railway sector has been one of the macro policies of the Iranian government as it has been emphasized by the general policies of the country’s national development plans.

In this regard, the national railway fleet has constantly received new domestically-made locomotives and wagons in the past and current Iranian calendar years.

As the first stage of the program for the renovation of the country’s railway fleet in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21), 156 freight wagons, three locomotives including two renovated ones and a newly made one by MAPNA Group, as well as 10 renovated passenger wagons had joined the railway fleet in early July.

Advantages such as consuming less fuel and creating less pollution as well as high safety attaches priority to the railway when compared to some other transportation systems, and makes its development economically viable.

The country’s Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021) has envisaged that the railway will account for at least 30 percent of cargo transportation and 20 percent of passenger transportation in Iran.

MA/MA