BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 8
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
A railway line currently under construction in Iran will connect the Fars Province (southern Iran) to the north-east and south-east of the country, Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports citing the ministry.
He made the remark while inspecting the Yazd-Eqlid railway line in Yazd Province.
According to Eslami, the Yazd-Eqlid railway line will connect Bushehr Province, as well as the tourist provinces of Fars, Yazd and Isfahan.
The minister noted that it is hoped that the railway line will be put into operation by the end of the current Iranian government (August 2021) and even before the presidential election (June 18, 2021).
“The Yazd-Eqlid railway line will reduce the distance from Shiraz city in Fars Province to Mashhad city in Razavi Khorasan Province by 3 hours,” he said.
Eslami also added that currently, about 2,000 kilometers of railways are being built in Iran. These railway lines are expected to be launched by the end of the current Iranian year (from March 21, 2021 through March 20, 2022).
The minister emphasized that 1,600 kilometers of these railway lines are being built under 7 new projects. While 400 km of railway lines are being built in order to increase transport capacity. These railways lines are Bafq- Zarrin Shahr and Qazvin-Zanjan lines.
The length of the Yazd-Eqlid railway line is 270 kilometers. The railway will carry 4 million tons of cargo and 1 million passengers a year. The improvement of the North-South and East-West corridors will result in a 310 km reduction in the railway line. There is currently 86 percent progress on the construction of this railway line and it will be launched in the 3rd month of the current Iranian (May 22 through June 21, 2021) with attraction of more 4 trillion rials (about $95.2 million).
