Iran set to launch joint rail corridor project

TEHRAN - An Iranian railway official said that Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan will inaugurate a joint rail project in the coming days which will connect railway networks of the three countries, Tehran Times daily reported on Wednesday.

The project, which is dubbed the Caspian Sea eastern rail corridor, will be officially inaugurated by presidents of the three countries, Iranian Railways Company Managing Director Abdol- Ali Saheb-Mohammadi announced on Tuesday without elaborating on the time and venue of inauguration ceremony.

The rail corridor will be around 1,000 km in length, with 140 km in Kazakhstan, 700 km in Turkmenistan and 90 km in Iran, Saheb- Mohammadi was quoted as saying.

On Sunday, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Ali Nikzad said that construction operations for some other railroads were underway to connect the country's railroad to those of neighboring countries.

In December 2012, Saheb-Mohammadi said that Iran's railway network was already linked to the Syrian and Turkish networks.