A total of 88 units of domestically-made and overhauled rolling stock worth 1.44 trillion rials ($8.16 million) joined Iran’ rail fleet on May 19 in a ceremony attended by Roads and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami and the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, Saeed Rasouli.
The number of additions registers a 134% increase compared with the similar period of last year.
“Overall, 144 locomotives and passenger and cargo wagons worth 2.69 trillion rials [$15.24 million] have been added to the rail fleet since the beginning of the current Iranian year [March 20],” Rasouli was quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
The official noted that plans are to produce and overhaul 2,000 units of rolling stock by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2021).
According to Eslami, 788 units of locally-made rolling stock joined the Iranian rail system in the last Iranian year (ended March 19, 2020).
Eslami said last year that in meeting 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 March 2022.
The first batch of newly manufactured or overhauled rolling stock joined the domestic rail fleet this year in March.
A total of 56 units of domestically-made/renovated rolling stock worth 1.25 trillion rials (more than $7 million) joined Iran's rail.
"The new units include 50 cargo and two passenger wagons, two new and two renovated locomotives, all of which were made during the first month of the current Iranian year [March 20-April 19],” Rasouli was quoted as saying back then.
The official noted that rolling stock production during the period under review registered a 143% rise compared with the similar period of last year.
Iranian rolling stock manufacturer Wagon Pars will be making 20 passenger wagons for RAJA Railway Transportation Company as part of a contract signed between the two companies in January.
Wagon Pars CEO Mohammad Reza Mokhtari said the manufacture of the wagons will begin in May.
"If we are duly provided with financial resources, all 20 passenger wagons will be completed and delivered to RAJA by the end of the next Iranian year [March 20, 2022],” the official was quoted as saying by the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
He added that the end price for each passenger wagon manufactured by Wagon Pars will stand at 75 billion rials (about $425,000) and the total value of the wagons to be constructed as part of the agreement will stand at $8.5 million.
Mokhtari noted that the company aims to build 500 wagons by the end of the current fiscal year.
Mohammad Rajabi, CEO of RAJA Railway Transportation Company, said it’s not the first time Raja has placed orders with Wagon Pars, and contracts have been renewed in view of the high quality of their products.
Wagon Pars, launched in 1974 in the city of Arak in 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.
RAJA was established in November 1996 as an affiliate of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways for improving the quality and scope of rail passenger services. It was transferred to the Tourism Holding of Social Security Organization (better known by its Persian acronym HEGTA) in March 2010 as part of IRIR’s outstanding debt to the organization.
