Capacity of Tehran-Savadkouh Tourist Train Doubles

The capacity of Tehran-Savadkouh tourist train has doubled after a new train was added on Fridays, an official at the Railways of Islamic Republic of Iran says.

“The train formerly operated only on Thursdays but following the rise in demand, a new train with a capacity of 350 passengers has been added to the route,” said Ali Kazemi Manesh, director for planning and monitoring rail services.

The first train left Tehran for Savadkouh on Friday at 6:30 a.m. and returned at 10:30 p.m., IRNA reported.

Tehran-Savadkouh is the first fixed tourist train in Iran. Other lines such as Ahvaz-Andimeshk-Tangeh were only available temporarily during the Norouz—Iranian New Year—holidays.

Given the popularity of tourist trains across the world, Iran’s national railroads company is endeavoring to catch up with other countries. Recently, in cooperation with a tourist company, the rail company has embarked on a project to expand tourist trains across Iran. A tourist train is not intended as a practical transportation, but as a museum-style attraction to see, as an activity to do, or a means of employing historical dining or sleeper train cars as somewhere to eat or sleep for novelty or entertainment purposes.

Savadkouh County, located in Mazandaran Province, is a major ecotourism site in Iran.