TEHRAN- Connecting the production centers and cargo hubs to the national railway network is one of the main programs of the government, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami stated.

The minister further mentioned the government’s efforts for the expansion of railway network and said, “We have currently 14,000 kilometers of railway throughout the country, 14,000 kilometers are under study and construction, and it is expected that the length of the national railway network will reach 28,000 kilometers by the next five years.”

As previously reported, the transit of basic goods to the ports via railway network in the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (March 20-April 19) was tripled (up 200 percent) compared to the figure for the same month last year, according to the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI).

Meanwhile, Director General of Business Services Coordination at Government Trading Corporation of Iran (GTC) Hassan Fallahnejad has said the direct transportation of goods from the vessels to the freight wagons has saved the country 40 billion rials (about $900,000) in the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin.

In this new method, cargo shipping operations in ports will be carried out directly by the freight wagons of the rail transportation system, which will significantly reduce the costs of transportation,” Fallahnejad told IRNA.

Connecting the ports to the railway network has been highly emphasized by the Transport Ministry over recent years.

Given the development projects underway in the ports, roads capacity is not enough for transportation of goods from and to the ports; also if railway does not develop in the ports, the high number of containers trucks and trailers in these places will cause many problems such as traffic, pollution, and some other infrastructural problems.

So, the rail-port approach is a necessity and the share of railway transportation should increase in the ports.

MA/MA