TEHRAN – Transportation is one of the factors of progress as well as the economic and social development of countries, which has a great role in increasing relations between countries, so it is one of the most important infrastructure industries in any country.

Today, many commodities produced in different countries, and the high volume of export and import of goods have increased the need to use various types of transportation channels. For this reason, various ways to transfer goods with very high quality have been created to meet the needs of countries.

In fact, the existence of an efficient transportation network strengthens the motivation of producers, because on the one hand, raw materials and intermediate goods reach the factories at the lowest cost, and on the other hand, it is easier to reach consumer markets at further distances.

Therefore, improving and strengthening the transportation network can be an important factor in reducing the cost of goods and services, growing trade, and finally reaching a high level of economic development.

At present, various types of sea, road, rail and air transportation are being carried out, each of which, in turn, has a great contribution to the development of countries and establishes commercial connections in the world every day. However, among the types of transportation, the railway is very important as one of the oldest channels of transportation that allows transporting goods and passengers in a large volume within the countries.

In fact, due to greater safety, less fuel consumption, and the possibility of transporting goods in different places, rail transportation has a great contribution to the transportation of goods, and in the past 100 years, by developing and equipping various facilities, it has greatly contributed to the development of trade relations between countries.

The advanced countries of the world have invested a lot in this sector in the past years, and experts consider the development of rail transportation as one of the factors of the development of any country.

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 during the two past Iranian calendar years.

As the first stage of the program for the renovation of the country’s railway fleet in the past Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20), 156 freight wagons, three locomotives including two renovated ones and a newly made one by MAPNA Group, as well as 10 renovated passenger wagons joined the railway fleet in early July 2022.

In the second stage of the program, 413 new domestically-made locomotives and wagons were added to the railway fleet in late October last year.

As for the third stage, the railway fleet received 428 new domestically-made and renovated wagons and locomotives in late December 2022

The railway fleet also received 500 new domestically-made and renovated wagons and locomotives in the fourth stage on March 17.

Of the mentioned 500 wagons and locomotives, 453 were new freight wagons, six were new locomotives, and nine were renovated locomotives.

The railway fleet also received 10 new passenger wagons as well as 22 renovated ones.

Overall, 1,660 wagons and locomotives have been added to the country’s railway fleet in the previous year.

On Thursday, Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash emphasized the need to increase the growth of production and the use of domestic power, and announced that the manufacturing of freight wagons in the country rose 50 percent to 1,598 in the year 1401 from 1,081 in 1400.

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

As stated by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI), the current government pays special attention to transportation diplomacy in the railway sector.

Stating that the development of railway lines is on the agenda in the current government, Miad Salehi has said: “Part of the requirements of railway development is the updating of equipment and special attention to the employees, and we are trying to take greater steps in these fields in the second year of the government.”