TEHRAN- Iranian transport minister said 1,200 kilometers of railroads are going to be constructed across the country during the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 19), IRNA reported.

Speaking in a ceremony for adding new domestically-made wagons and locomotives to the country’s railway fleet on Wednesday, Mohammad Eslami said rail transport will become more efficient and safer in the current year.

“This year which is named the year of surge in production, the share of rail in transit should be increased. Now we are witnessing a 25-percent growth in the share of freight rail transportation, which is a positive step,” the official said.

According to the minister, up to 400 km of side lines are also going to be constructed in collaboration with the private sector.

Expanded transportation via railway is, today, one of the major pillars of sustainable development for all countries; and it is why the governments usually allocate noticeable funds and resources to the development of the railway.

In Iran, the development of railway has been among the top-priority plans of the governments in recent years.

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. Such a target requires at least 850 trillion rials (about $20.238 billion) of investment.

EF/MA