Iran’s railroads have the potential for the cross-border transport of 12 million tons of cargo per year, but only 4 million tons are currently utilized, said a board member at Islamic Republic of Iran Railways. “We should take advantage of Iran’s special geopolitical location,” Mohammad Gharavi was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency. The official was speaking in a rail conference held in the city of Incheh-Borun in the northern Golestan Province where Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan inaugurated the Iranian leg of a 926-kilometer trilateral railroad last year. The under-capacity cross-border transportation comes, as there has been a 180% surge in domestic rail in the past three years. Domestic cargo transit via railroads stood at 35.6 million tons in the last Iranian year (March 2015-16), according to IRIR. Iran intends to increase the share of railroads in the transportation sector. Currently, Iranian roads account for up to 90% of transit.
