BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 3
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
There is a 60-percent physical progress in the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province (southeastern Iran), Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
According to Eslami, the construction of the 720 km long railway line is currently underway in four shifts. Work is underway to complete the first part of the railway line by August 2021, and to put the railway line into operation fully by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2022).
Construction of the 720-kilometer Chabahar-Zahedan railway began in 2010. In 2014, the construction of this railway was accelerated by changing the contractor. So far, 17 trillion rials (about $404 million) has been spent on the construction of this railway, and it is estimated that 40 trillion rials (about $952 million) will be required to complete the project.
After commissioning, 100 million tons of cargo will be transported by railway a year.
About 300 million euros have been allocated by the National Development Fund of Iran for the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway.
