Iran inaugurates Caspian railway

Iran on Thursday inaugurated a major railway in the northern province of Gilan, which serves as part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a transport route linking South Asia to North Europe.
The inauguration ceremony of the railway, which connects the provincial capital Rasht to the Caspian port city of Bandar Anzali, was attended by Iran’s Caretaker President Mohammad Mokhber and Roads and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, among others, IRNA reported.
According to the report, the passenger and cargo transfer capacities of the 37 km-long railway, whose construction started in 2006, are expected to finally reach 600,000 and seven million tons, respectively.
The project helps prepare the ground for the connection of Iran’s southern ports and the northern ones, as well as facilitates cargo transit for regional countries through Iran, said the report.
The report hailed the railway as an important step towards the full implementation of the INSTC and expansion of cooperation between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states, adding the railway will also boost the development of relations between the EAEU member states and Arab countries in West Asia. Speaking in the inaugural ceremony, Bazrpash said the transit of goods from the country increased 55 percent in the first three months of the current Iranian year compared to the same period last year. He added that the administration of the late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi made round-the-clock efforts for the completion of the Rasht-Caspian Rail project.
The roads minister pointed to the economic opportunities of Iran in the region and world and said the administration of Raisi enhanced Iran’s diplomacy in the region and the world considerably.
He went on to say that 5.5 million tons of goods were transited via Iranian land and territory in the first three months of the current year, expandable to 20 million tons of transit of goods by the end of the current year (to end March 20, 2025).