TEHRAN- Railway should account for 30 percent of freight transportation in Iran by the end of the country’s Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2021), IRNA quoted Saeid Mohammadzadeh, the managing director of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR), as saying on Wednesday.

Iran’s rail freight transport reached 30 million tons in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year ended on December 20, showing 14 percent increase year-on-year.

“Rail freight transport reached 21 billion ton-kilometers in the said nine months rising from 18 billion ton-kilometers in the same period in the preceding year,” IRIB reported on December 27 quoting Ebrahim Mohammadi, a deputy head in the RIRI.

Iran’s parliament has passed a bill, allowing the administration to allocate one percent of oil and gas revenues annually for railways development projects across the country.

The sum is estimated to be about $1 billion and will be disbursed over the Sixth National Development Plan, ISNA quoted Saeed Rasouli, the deputy director of the IRIR, as saying last week.

MA/MG