FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Iran Discussing Railway Electrification Projects with Russia

April25 (EIRNS)—Iran has proposed railway electrification projects worth €3 billion to Russia, Russian Railways vice-president Alexander Misharin told Sputnik. The projects include electrifying 3,000 km of lines in Iran which is on an ambitious railway expansion and modernization drive.

“Three-thousand kilometers, a big project.... This is a big project, we need to fold the financing scheme; this is €2-3 billion,”

Misharin said.

“We did sign a contract for the electrification of the Garmsar-Ince Burun line, and it includes, among other things, access to other lines. Now we are considering what these will be. These will be the sections that are part of the North-South Corridor, maybe this will be Tehran-Tabriz. This is the next stage of our discussion. Today the Iranian side proposed to expand our cooperation, we are ready to discuss it.”

Last August, a Russian bank agreed to provide €1 billion to electrify the 500 km Garmsar-Ince Burun line in northeast Iran. The railway stretches to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, linking Central Asia to the Persian Gulf and beyond, the construction of tunnels and power supply units is included. The project will start before the end of this year. Next might be the project to electrify the 600 km railway route between Tehran and the northwestern city of Tabriz. In July 2017, Russia’s largest manufacturer of locomotives and rail equipment, CJSC Transmashholding, signed a €2.5 billion deal with IDRO Group in Tehran for joint production of rolling stock in Iran.