Azerbaijan, Baku, Jun. 14/ Trend, R. Zamanov
Currently some 8,500 kilometers of railway is being constructed in 11 provinces, the Roads and Urban Development Minister Ali Nikzad said on Friday.
By completion of the projects, all the provinces of the country will benefit from the national railway network, the ISNA News Agency quoted Nikzad as saying.
The construction plan of some 11,000 kilometers of railway started during the two terms of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he said, adding than some 2500 kilometers of the mentioned projects came on stream.
He named Gorgan-Inceburun as one of the main projects which came on stream during Ahmadinejad's presidency.
The Inceburun-Gorgan rail project was officially inaugurated on May 27.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Ali Nikzad attended the inauguration ceremony, the IRIB News agency reported.
The 88-kilometers long rail project connects the north western Iranian city of Gorgan with Inceburun in Turkmenistan.
The railway has the capacity to annually transfer 10 million tons of goods and 4 million passengers.
By inauguration of the project, a rail corridor connecting the Persian Gulf to Central Asia was created. Iran now has access to Russia, the Commonwealth of Independant States, and China.
The project has also opened access for European and Asian countries to Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
A similar opportunity has appeared for the transit of goods from countries in south and south-east Asia, and the shores of the Indian Ocean to the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe through Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
