Iran needs foreign investors to launch Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway

Iran needs financial resources to inaugurate the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway. Iran’s transport minister Abbas Akhoundi said if the required financial resources are provided the railway will be inaugurated in the near future, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported.
The railway will come on stream early in the next Iranian fiscal year, starting on March 21, if the necessary funds are provided, Akhoundi noted.
The Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway with the length of 375 kilometers is currently the missing link in the North-South transport corridor and it will link the Northern Europe to South-East Asia. It will link the railroads of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia. The construction of the Qazvin-Rasht railway with the length of 205 kilometers has already been completed. Its capacity will be equal to 1.4 million passengers and 5-7 million metric tons of cargo per year, according to the preliminary estimates. Some 22 tunnels, 15 bridges will be built on the railway. The construction of 15 tunnels has already been completed.