TEHRAN - The number of passengers carried on Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI) in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21) increased by 54 percent, year on year, data released by Transport and Urban Development Ministry shows.

Based on the mentioned data, 12.7 million passengers were transported by rail across Iran during the eight-month period of this year, while the figure was 6.794 million in the same time span of the past year.

As reported, a total of 21 million people were transported via rail in the previous Iranian calendar year.

Meanwhile, the transit of goods through Iran’s railway network has decreased by seven percent during the first eight months of this year, due to the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, the sanctions, and some conflicts in global trade.

According to the Transport Ministry data, over 29.7 million tons of commodities were transported via the Iranian rail network in the mentioned eight months, while the figure stood at 31.8 million tons in the previous year’s same time span.

Railway transit through Iran also registered a 32-percent decline to stand at 939,000 tons in the current year’s eight-month period. The figure was 1.24 million tons in the first eight months of the last year.

EF/MA