A total of 259 domestically-made and overhauled locomotives, passenger and cargo wagons worth 4.94 trillion rials ($21.57 million) have been added to Iran's rail fleet since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 20), showing a 48% increase compared with the similar period of last year.
Fifty of them worth 690 billion rials ($3 million) joined the fleet during a ceremony attended by Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami and Saeed Rasouli, the head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, on July 25.
The new additions include 49 freight wagons newly-manufactured by Wagon Pars Co. and Kowsar Wagon Company as well as one locomotive fully renovated at MAPNA Group, the news portal of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
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.
Eslami also attended a ceremony in Zanjan Province last Thursday to launch two new manufacturing lines of Iranian Rail Industries Development Co. (IRICO) with a capacity of 80 railroad cars and 200 Y25 bogies per year.
The minister told reporters that the government has set a goal of producing and overhauling 2,000 rolling stock by the end of the current Iranian year in March 2021, adding that to reach that goal, the ministry has issued permits for passenger wagon manufacturers to produce cargo wagons as well.
IRIR has signed a contract with IRICO for the rolling stock manufacturer to overhaul locomotives and wagons as part of the plan to reach the target.
Founded in 2003, IRICO is an Iranian manufacturer of passenger rolling stock. The company is headquartered in Tehran and has a factory in Zanjan Province’s Abhar County where it designs and manufactures various types of rolling stock such as passenger coaches, metro cars, Diesel Multiple Units (RailBus DMU), various freight wagons and bogies in accordance with the standards of the International Union of Railways.
Eslami told Fars News Agency that a total of 788 locally-made rolling stock worth 12.7 trillion rials ($55.46 million) joined the Iranian rail fell in the fiscal 2019-20, adding that the government aims to increase this figure by 45% by the end of the current year (March 20, 2021).
“By fiscal 2021-22, there should be no substandard wagons running on our rails and the IRIR and rolling stock manufacturers have to put all their efforts and resources in ensuring that this happens. We are also planning to increase the speed and safety of our fleet,” he said.
The minister said last year that in order to meet 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.
