He noted that six freight trains linking Yinchuan, capital of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Iran’s capital will be dispatched by the end of 2017.

“In a meeting with Liang Hua, the CEO in charge of the Yinchuan-Tehran freight train project, it was decided that China send two trains per month by the end of 2017,” Mohammadi said.

He stated that the trains will begin their trips from Yinchuan and travel along the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan route to reach Tehran after 14 days.

Also in the meeting, the Chinese delegation welcomed the proposal to establish a container terminal near Tehran railway station. The Chinese side also promised that its government would exempt businesses from paying rail transport costs up to the Chinese borders as an incentive.

The meeting also discussed cooperation with the Iranian side on facilitating Chinese train services via Iran to Europe.

In a relevant development in late July, Iran and China signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on electrification of Tehran-Mashhad railway system.

The 1.5-billion-dollar financing contract for the electrification of Tehran-Mashhad railroad was inked in a ceremony attended by vice president of China Exim Bank (Export-Import Banks of China), Ambassador of China to Iran Pang Sen, Iran’s Deputy Road and Urban Development Minister for International Affairs Asghar Fakhrieh Kashani, Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Saeed Mohammadzadeh, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) for Foreign Exchange Affairs Gholamali Kamyab as well as Chairman of Board of Directors and Managing Director of Bank of Industry and Mine Ali-Ashraf Afkhami.

The agreement marks the first financing contract to be signed in the past one and a half years in Iran.

Tehran-Mashhad, the most frequented railway line of Iran and one of the few double-track lines of the country, with 926Km of length and 50 stations passing through the major cities of Garmsar, Semnan, Damghan, Shahroud, and Neishabour.

Currently, the route permits a speed of 160 km/h which will be increased to 200 km/h once the electrification project is completed. Based on predictions, the railway will carry 33 million passengers and 10 million tons of freight annually by 2032. This load of passenger and freight will put the Tehran-Mashhad railway into the list of top ten most commuted railway lines in the world.

http://iran-daily.com/News/201621.html