A total of 456 locomotives and passenger, cargo and self-propellant wagons have been added to Iran's rail fleet since the beginning of the current Iranian year on March 21, registering a 95% increase compared with the similar period of last year, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways said.
“These wagons and locomotives have been domestically produced,” Saeed Rasouli was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Director General of Arak Railways Mohammad Reza Qorbani told IRNA that 4,301 cargo wagons have been renovated since the beginning of the year.
“Some 1,066 freight wagons, making up 25% of the total number, were revamped in Arak, the capital city of Markazi Province, which is considered a hub for rolling stock repair,” he added.
Industries Minister Reza Rahmani said last month Iran needs to build or renovate some 40,000 locomotives and passenger, freight and subway wagons within the next 10 years.
“Over the past year, there has been a sharp rise in orders placed with local manufacturers for the production of rolling stock,” Rahmani said in a meeting with Roads Minister Mohammad Eslami.
Eslami said that in meeting the domestic demand for wagons and locomotives, the government is giving priority to local manufacturers and their production capacity.
With the aim of reducing road traffic and battling air pollution, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development has placed the development of Iran’s rail sector on top of its agenda.
Iran’s Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2017-22) has tasked the government with increasing the share of rail in cargo and passenger transportation from the current 12% and 8% to 30% and 20% respectively by the end of the plan.
To achieve this target, Iran’s former roads minister, Abbas Akhoundi, said $28 billion worth of investment are needed.
Besides expanding Iran’s rail network and increasing connectivity both inside and outside the country, the ministry has moved to renew the aging rail fleet.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways started a plan to revive the country’s passenger fleet in the fiscal 2015-16.
After the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Iran and major world powers, came into effect in January 2016, which saw the removal of economic sanctions against the country, Iran signed a series of contracts to supply rolling stock for the expanding domestic rail network.
Contracts were signed with the French company Alstom and South Korean Hyundai Rotem and Germany's Siemens. Iran also had contracts in place with Russia, China and India for locomotive and wagon production and purchases.
Yet many of these companies pulled out of their signed contracts after the reimposition of US sanctions in August 2018 against Iran and the fate of the rest are unclear.
Therefore, the Islamic Republic set the policy of relying on its domestic capacities to produce rolling stock.
Major Iranian rolling stock manufacturer, Wagon Pars Company, built 290 freight and seven passenger wagons in the last Iranian year (March 2018-19), valued at 812 billion rials ($6.27 million), according to the CEO of the company.
“We have also begun the construction of 533 more wagons this year, 500 of which will be cargo cars and the remaining 33 will be passenger cars,” Mohammad Reza Bakhtiari was quoted as saying by IRNA earlier this year.
According to the official, Wagon Pars has the capacity to produce 150 passenger and 1,000 cargo wagons per year.
Wagon Pars, launched in 1974 in the city of Arak in the central Markazi Province, is a subsidiary of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran and the largest manufacturer of freight, passenger and subway wagons in the Middle East.
