Tehran, Moscow Sign €1.2b Railroad Deal

Russian Railways’ export business RZD International and Islamic Republic of Iran Railways signed a €1.2 billion contract on March 28 for the electrification of the 495-km route from Garmsar on the Tehran–Mashhad main line to Incheh Borun on the border with Turkmenistan, Railway Gazette reported on Wednesday.  This builds on an initial agreement signed in November 2015. The scope of the work includes undertaking electrification, track laying, signaling and telecoms enhancement to increase the route’s capacity. It also covers the supply of maintenance vehicles and electric locomotives and extension of technical assistance in the first year of electrification. The work is scheduled to take four years and will start as soon as the governments finalize a €1 billion Russian export loan, which is to be repaid over five years with a 2.77% annual interest rate.   A memorandum of understanding has also been signed, which could see RZD International and IRIR use the project as a basis for cooperating in other sectors.