Think Railways

Iran plans to electrify Tehran-Mashhad railway in joint venture with a Chinese investor. Manager of the Electrification Project of Iran's Railways Qassem Saketi told FNA that his department is now "obtaining the necessary licenses for implementing the project through 85 percent of foreign finance".

Saketi said the remaining "15 percent will be financed by the (Iranian) government".

Once the project is accomplished, the passenger capacity of Tehran-Mashhad railway will be increased from the current 14 million passengers per year to 35 million. The electrification project will increase the cargo capacity of Tehran-Mashhad railway to 10 million tons per year as well.

The electrification project will shorten the interval of travel between Tehran and Mashhad to 6 hours from the current minimum 12 hours as the train's top speed will hit the 200 km/h maximum.

Some 180km of the 200km-long Miyaneh-Tabriz railway is under construction and constructing the remaining route will be started in the near future.

Once the project is complete, the Tabriz-Tehran railway distance would be reduced to approximately 5.5 hours.

Source* farsnews.com