A 267-kilometer-long railroad connecting the capital city Tehran and the central provincial capital Hamedan was inaugurated on Monday in the presence of President Hassan Rouhani and Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi.
The 9.7-trillion-rial ($260 million) project was launched in 2001 with the aim of connecting Hamedan to Iran’s national rail network, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development’s news service reported.
The railroad is expected to save the country millions of dollars by decreasing road accidents and air pollution.
Deputy minister of roads and urban development, Kheirollah Khademi, earlier said Iran will inaugurate 838 kilometers of new railroads, including the Tehran-Hamedan route, by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2018).
“Four other provincial capitals will join the national rail network in a prioritized order by the yearend,” he said, referring to Qazvin-Rasht, the so-called Gharb (West) project connecting the city of Arak in the central Markazi Province to Khosravi Border Crossing in the western Kermanshah Province bordering Iraq, as well as Mahabad-Urmia and Mianeh-Bostanabad railroad projects.
Add new comment
Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints