Russia to finance €1.2b railway project in Iran
The €1.2-billion project for electrification of Garmsar–Incheboron railway in Iran was officially inaugurated on Monday, IRIB reported.
As reported, senior officials from Iran’s Transportation Ministry, the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (known as RAI), and JSC Russian Railways attended the inauguration ceremony which was held through video conference in Tehran.
The electrification of the 495-kilometer railway which links Garmsar in the north-central province of Semnan to Incheboron in the northeastern province of Golestan, will be financed by Russia.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation in this project was signed in December 2016 in Tehran during the 13th session of the Russian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation co-chaired by Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.
Based on the MOU, the project is going to be operated through cooperation of Russian and Iranian companies. It includes supplying fleet and repairing and upgrading entire infrastructures such as tracks, stations, and signaling systems along the route.
Iran annually invests $1b in railway industry
Speaking in the inauguration ceremony, Saied Mohammadzadeh, the managing director of RAI, noted that Iran is annually investing $1 billion to develop the country’s railway industry.
According to the official, one of the main goals of projects like Garmsar–Incheboron is transferring technology and knowledge of electric locomotives to Iran.