Baku, Azerbaijan, July 11
By Fatih Karimov– Trend:
Iranian and Italian railway companies signed memorandums of understanding on July 11 for mutual cooperation, the official website of the Iranian railway company said.
A deal worth 1.2 billion euros for building a 135-kilometer high-speed railway between Iran’s central cities of Arak and Qom is among the MoUs which were signed by Renato Mazzoncini, CEO of Italy's state railway company and his Iranian counterpart Saeed Mohammadzadeh in Tehran.
The railway is the first stretch of a high-speed rail line which the Italian side plans to build in Iran, with the other being a 320-km planned link between Tehran and Hamadan.
The deal follows an earlier reached agreement that saw Italy promise Iran $5.6 billion in export credits in return for contracts to build the Qom-Arak and Tehran-Hamedan railways.
Italy will also provide rolling stock for high-speed and conventional lines, training for Iranian railway managers and a research centre to develop railway technology.
According to the report, the two sides also signed a MoU with Iran’s University of Science and Technology for training and transfer of technology.
