Moscow and Tehran sign memorandum on railway line electrification

Russia and Iran signed a memorandum on the electrification of a railway line in Iran, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced.
„The issues of cooperation in the electric power sector and the issues related to the development of rail transport are the most well developed projects for the Russia-Iran cooperation,” Novak said, RIA Novosti reports. “I know that a memorandum on the electrification of one of railway lines has been recently signed. In my opinion, three projects worth about USD 4.5 billion are being considered.”
„Much work has been conducted for two years,” he said. “Before the sanctions are lifted, we have agreed on joint projects worth up to USD 40 billion.”
In October 2012, Tabriz-Azarshahr railway line was electrified. This line has the length of about 46 kilometers and five stations. Following the meeting of the Russian-Iranian commission on trade and economic cooperation in September 2014 RZD reported that the volume of contracts for the construction of Railways and railway electrification in Iran could be around EUR 8.4 billion and touch the 5.6 thousand kilometers of railways.
The representative of the Russian Railways said that the company is in talks to expand the portfolio of infrastructure projects abroad, particularly in Iran. One of the priorities of joint projects to date is the electrification of the line Garmsar-Gorgan-Incheburun, with the length of 495 kilometers. RZD and the Iranian Railways signed a memorandum of understanding on the project. Now the parties implement a set of measures on the signing of the contract for its implementation.