Khorasan Razavi Province registered the highest rail passenger throughput in the first six months of the year (March 21-Sept. 22).
"The number of visitors travelling by train to the northeastern city of Mashhad, capital of Khorasan Razavi Province, saw an increase of 16% during H1 compared with the same period of last year to reach 7.45 million," Mohammad-Hadi Ziaei-Mehr, the director general of Khorasan Railways, was quoted as saying by News.mrud.ir.
“The destination of up to 50% of rail travels from 28 cities across the country was Khorasan Razavi’s Mashhad during the period under review.”
Mashhad is home to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (PUBH), the eighth Shia Imam. It is the second most populous city in Iran.
The metropolis annually hosts around 25 million tourists and pilgrims, which add to its demographic load.
There are 12,500 kilometers of railroads in Iran, 1,500 kilometers or 12% of which are located in Khorasan Razavi Province.
