The minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhundi said 2,500 km of highway are to be constructed across the country, IRNA reported. A 5,000 km long network of highways is to be established, of which 2,360 km roads have been completed so far, Akhundi said in the inauguration ceremony of Qom-Garmsar highway on February 25. He spoke of Haram-ta-Haram ‘Shrine to Shrine’ highway, set to link the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) in Mashhad city, Khorasan Razavi Province to the shrine of Fatima Masumeh (AS) in Qom, capital of Qom Province. The construction of Haram-ta-Haram highway will start in Mashhad, and run south until it joins Qom-Garmsar highway. Another project soon to be implemented, is a 164 km highway connecting Charmshahr town, Tehran Province to Abyek city, Qazvin. He emphasized the importance of Tehran-Qom-Isfahan express railway, connecting Imam Khomeini International Airport to Tehran and Qom. The express railway is expected to be completed in four years; or much sooner.
