TEHRAN - The managing director of Iran's Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company (CDTIC) said some 387 kilometers of railway lines have been inaugurated across the country over the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19).

According to Kheirollah Khademi, over 820 kilometers of railways are also going to be completed and put into operation in the current Iranian calendar year, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Stating that 3,081 kilometers of railway lines are currently under construction across the country, the official said: "Good measures are being followed in the country’s rail corridors and we hope to achieve good results."

Khademi further noted that some 236 kilometers of freeways and 2015 kilometers of main roads were also inaugurated in the previous year.

Back in June, Head of the Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RAI) Majid Salehi said with the inauguration of three rail lines in the provinces of Yazd and Isfahan, the total length of rail lines inaugurated during the administration of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reached 800 kilometers.

According to Salehi, connecting the large industrial and mineral centers to the rail lines has many advantages, adding that assuring the transportation of agricultural raw materials, reducing traffic congestion and accidents, and also reducing fuel consumption are among the important advantages of the development of the rail lines.

Earlier, Mehrdad Bazrpash, Iran’s minister of transport and urban development, said in the inaugural ceremony of the Rasht-Caspian Railway at the Anzali Free Zone, that the administration of the late Iranian President Raisi made round-the-clock efforts for the completion of the Rasht-Caspian Rail project.

The Rasht-Caspian Railway Project in Iran’s northern province of Gilan was inaugurated on June 20, 2024.

It was launched in a ceremony to be attended by Iran's Acting President Mohammad Mokhber, Transport Minister Bazrpash, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Igor Levitin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev, Governor of Astrakhan Oblast Igor Babushkin and the ambassadors of the neighboring countries.

The project will bring considerable benefits to Iran and regional transport networks. Upon operation of this rail project, which is part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Persian Gulf will be connected to the Caspian Sea via rail.

The 37-kilometer Rasht-Caspian Railway completes the Qazvin-Rasht rail route and connects the city of Rasht to the Caspian Sea.

Located in the northern part of Iran, the primary purpose of the Rasht-Caspian Railway is to enhance connectivity to facilitate transportation and trade links between Iran and the Caspian Sea region northward and to the railway network southward. It provides a more efficient and cost-effective mode of transportation for freight and passengers.

EF/MA