News Archive
Turkish Daily News
TEHRAN May 1996 - Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani on Monday inaugurated a new rail link between Iran and Central Asia which he said revived the old Silk Road as a symbol of East-West relations.
The Iranian president and 11 heads of state later flew to Sarakhs, on the border with Turkmenistan. Other dignitaries and officials boarded the train, dubbed "Pride," making its first journey from Mashhad to Sarakhs. "The Silk Road railway ... shortens the great distance between Chinese ports and the Persian Gulf, is the bridge for the region and the world and is a clear example of Iran's priority on regional cooperation," Rafsanjani said in a ceremony in Sarakhs, broadcast live on Iranian television.
Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, who attended the meeting, was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying that the route would be tied to Turkey. "This will eventually be tied to Turkey, thus linking Turkey with Central Asia," Demirel said after his meeting with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. But the Turkish president fervently praised the project, saying: "An historic legend comes to life, the Silk Road was not only about a route but was about the coming together of various nations."
"It is not only a railway being inaugurated today, but continents and peoples of various continents are being connected," Demirel said. The heads of state were to go later to Tedzhen in Turkmenistan.
The Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tedzhen railway opens up new trade routes between regions which under Soviet communism were hermetically sealed, joining Iran's Gulf ports to the former Soviet hinterland. Iran and Turkmenistan agreed in 1991 to tie their rail networks. Iran self-financed the $171 million, 165 kilometer (100 mile) Mashhad-Sarakhs stretch, which it completed in 42 months. Turkmenistan's Sarakhs-Tedzhen link, running for 130 kilometers (80 miles), was finished late last year at a cost of $45 million. Transport capacity initially will be 500,000 passengers a year and 2 million metric tons of goods, rising eventually to 1 million passengers and 8 million tons.
Iran, subject to a U.S. economic embargo, is hailing the railway as the first concrete achievement in a strategy to build its role as a regional economic power. It has shrugged off the sanctions and is seeking to build its role as a regional player through the Economic Cooperation Organization -- known as ECO. ECO was founded by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey and later expanded in 1992 to include the five former Soviet Central Asian states -- Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan -- plus Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. Heads of state will hold ECO's fourth summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Turkmen capital Ashkabad and are expected to agree to a redrafting of the ECO founding treaty already hammered out by foreign ministers. At the same meeting, Turkey will take over for four years the permanent secretariat of the organization. ECO foreign ministers said on Saturday the group was not yet fit to compete with Asian, American and European blocs. Iran called for tariffs to be scrapped outright.
(TDN, 14.05.1996, page 1)
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SARAKHS, Turkmenistan -- Iran and Turkmenistan opened a rail link Monday which leaders said would unite Europe and Asia and revive the Silk Road trade route between the two continents.
Heads of state from 12 countries attended a colorful ceremony in northern Iran before crossing the border in a special train, dubbed "Pride," to the gas-rich desert republic of Turkmenistan.
The new railroad, from the northern Iranian city of Mashhad to the Turkmen town of Tedzhen, links Iran's Gulf ports to the former Soviet hinterland and a network which stretches to China and the Pacific coast. Iran, subject to a U.S. economic embargo, is hailing the railroad as the first concrete achievement in a strategy to build its role as a regional economic power. The Silk Road came into use 2,000 years ago. It was the main link between China and Europe for several centuries until sea travel became practical.
topFeb. 4. 97- The Iranian Islamic Republic Railways (IIRR) has assured its participation in the Trans-Asian railway project, reported Indian newspaper 'The Economic Times'. The Trans-Asian railway project is expected to link Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries to major emerging economies of Asia. Speaking to The Economic Times, acting president and board member of IIRR, Nasser Pour-Mirza, said Iranian railway was speeding up the process of connecting the missing link between Kerman and Zahedan before the year 2000. The missing link between Kerman and Zahedan will cost about dlr. 584 million, which will be funded by the government's own revenues, he said. Mirza said that his company will play an important role in connecting Europe with Asia as well as the CIS countries, which would help boost trade between countries in the two continents. He also said that already co-operation exists between the three Islamic countries of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.
topPassenger Trains Operating Company, RAJA, is a joint stock company affiliated to Islamic Republic of Iran's Railway Company (RAI). It was established in October 1996 as a part of RAI restructuring process, aimed at separating passenger and freight train operations management from infrastructure maintenance and development. There are 3225 personnel serving, in 13 regions, in passenger transport and passenger fleet maintenance activities. The company carried 9 million passengers between March 1996 and March 1997, mostly travelling on long-distance trains with average journey length of approximately 778 kilometres. The company's performance was 7 billion passenger-kilometres in the same year.
Passengers can benefit from a computerised reservation system to book seats one month prior to their travelling time. The system is in operation by private travel agencies accross the country and also by customer service offices of RAJA situated in major stations.
RAJA has recently started a tourist attrative service connecting the capital-Tehran- to the cities en route in the north of the country, in Mazandaran and Gorgan, the two provinces which are well known for beautiful villages, forests, and beaches.
by RAJA
Mashhad-Ashkhabad passenger train to start service in May 1997
March 30. 97 - Simultaneous with the first anniversary of the inauguration of Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railroad, a passenger train service between Mashhad and Ashkhabad will become operational on May 14, said the manager of Khorasan Railway Company, Majid Roshdi, on Sunday. He added that some 2.500 million tons of cargo are to be imported to Iran via Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railroad from central Asian states. The goods include cotton, lumber, iron wares, asbestos pipes, gasoline and furnace oil, he said. Last year, he added, 200,000 tons of commodities were imported to Iran from central Asian states by train, of which 140,000 tons were carried to Bandar Abbas and 60,000 tons to Mashhad./-
TURKMENISTAN President S Niyazov has set up an international project group to push ahead with development of two corridors linking the Central Asian states and the Persian Gulf. His intention is to make Turkmenistan the centre of the region's rail network.
The north-south corridor will integrate the Tedjen -- Sarakhs line to Iran, completed two years ago, with the planned 450 km link from Turkmenbashi to Yeralivo in Kazakhstan (RG 11.97 p725). The east-west corridor uses a train ferry to link the ex-SZD route from Toshkent to Turkmenbashi via Ashgabat with the trans-Caucasian corridor between Baku and Poti.
Completion of Iranian Islamic Republic Railways' direct route from Mashhad to Bafgh, linking into the line to the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, which is expected to generate up to 15 million tonnes a year. The Sarakhs transfer station handled 500,000 tonnes of freight in its first year, and is currently transhipping 130 wagonloads a day. Construction of a new bogie exchange installation and container terminal are expected to boost throughput to 2 million tonnes in 2000, and eventually to 7 million.
by Reed Business Information 1997
topISLAMIC Iranian Republic Railways (RAI) has ordered 100 diesel locomotives from GEC Alsthom to haul 140km/h passenger trains and freights at up to 110km/h. The 4300hp AD43C Co-Cos will be powered by Ruston 16RK215 diesel engines using Onix IGBT-based asynchronous traction drives.
Under the US$125m contract announced on December 23, the first 20 locos will be assembled at GEC Alsthom's Belfort works in France. The next five will be shipped to Iran as kits for assembly by Wagon Pars, which will then build the remaining 75 using components manufactured by French and Iranian suppliers. The deal includes a four-year maintenance provision.
The first loco is scheduled to leave Belfort 18 months after the contract becomes effective, with the 25 French-built units to be delivered within eight months and the last during 2003.
by Reed Business Information 1997
Tehran looks to trains to ease traffic
by Barry May TEHRAN, April 24 1998 (Reuters)
The tunnels are dug, the stations are being built and the trains are on their way. But there is no sign yet that Tehran's metro system will be ready to carry passengers to ease the city's chronic traffic congestion and pollution any time soon. No track has been laid, say engineers involved in the underground railway project. Revolution, war and shortages of funds have delayed the project, designed in the 1970s during the reign of the shah to ease congestion and reduce pollution. Since then, Tehran's population has more than doubled from less than three million to more than seven million, with at least a million more commuting in each day from outlying areas. The first shipment of equipment including six 88-tonne electric locomotives and 24 double-deck carriages left Shanghai for Iran last week. The Chinese rolling stock will be used to establish a commuter service between Tehran and the city of Karaj, 45 km (28 miles) west of the capital.
QUARTER CENTURY OF WORK
A $550 million agreement with three Chinese companies to supply machinery needed to complete the network of commuter services in and around Tehran is the largest construction project in Iran. It is also among China's biggest project overseas. It includes supplying power, signalling, ventilation and maintenance equipment for two subway lines and a separate ground-level track to the suburbs. The Chinese firms are China North Industries, China National Technology Import and Export Corp, and China International Trust and Investment Corp. China's Changchun Rolling Stocks Works will eventually supply 218 passenger cars for the metro. But for now, only the yellow and orange subway signs at strategic points around the city indicate that Tehran's mass transit system is a little closer to becoming a reality after a quarter century of intermittent work. Construction in north Tehran by France following an ambitious study that suggested seven lines totalling 143 km was blocked, first by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and then the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. After the turmoil, Iran itself started boring two lines under the city in 1986 -- one north-south, the other east-west. The 34 km north-south line was designed to have 22 stations. The 20 km east-west line, 21. Both lines are entirely under ground. A separate ground-level extension of the east-west route runs from Azadi (Freedom) Square near Tehran's Mehrabad international airport to Karaj, a commuter city of about one million people.
LARGE DEMAND FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Between 10 to 12 percent of the 10.7 million passenger trips in Tehran each day are expected to shift to the two lines, said Ali Atabak, a transportation engineer involved in designing the lines. "There is a large demand for public transport in Tehran but much depends on the fare structure," he said. "Most construction in Iran has stopped because of budget shortfalls, but the metro is going ahead," he added. The pollution that hangs over Tehran and chokes the lungs of its people is measured on electronic graphs around the city for all to see. Studies show that 70 percent of it is caused by traffic, much of it old and poorly maintained cars. About 100,000 new cars were produced in Iran last year -- but few old vehicles were taken off the roads. Two out of every five cars now in use were made and licensed before the revolution. Besides the city's 24,000 licensed taxis, some 85,000 private vehicles are used as pirate taxis and add to the congestion, according to an unofficial survey three months ago. City officials have tried to ease congestion and speed up public transport by imposing restrictions on a 22 square km (26 square yards) zone in downtown Tehran where drivers must buy a permit to enter.
sad news!
The Iranian newsagency said the first batch of locomotives was destroyed at sea, when the Chinese ship carrying them collided with another vessel. Iran had ordered more than two-hundred carriages and a large number of engines from China, at a cost of more than five-hundred-million dollars -- the biggest deal the two countries have signed. The agency said the head of the Teheran Metro Company, Mohsen Hashemi, had gone to China to discuss the matter. The Teheran Metro is due to open in the next few months, to ease intense traffic congestion in the capital.
from BBC World Service
topAN INTERMODAL freight corridor between the Persian Gulf and the CIS countries in Central Asia was due to start operating in October, under a concession awarded by the Iranian Land Transport Ministry. The service is being retailed by Dubai-based Silver Seas Shipping, which charters trains from RAI, and is expected to cut transit times from 40 to 10 days.
Silver Seas has an initial two-year concession, automatically renewable up to 10 years, to market the service in the Gulf region, southeast Asia and the Far East. Traffic arriving in Dubai is consolidated and forwarded by ship to Bandar Abbas and Bandar Imam Khomeini for transfer to rail. Trains will initially run on alternate days, but Silver Seas Managing Director Tayseer Salamah hopes to increase this frequency in the future. Company staff will travel with each consignment to protect the goods, handle paperwork and formalities, and arrange for door-to-door delivery at the final destination. Silver Seas expects to handle up to 40,000 containers per year.
by Reed Business Information 1998
topyazd, march 4, irna -- President Mohammad Khatami inaugurated Ardakan-Chadormalu railway on thursday. The 221 km track has the capacity of transporting five million to ten million tons of cargo and 300,000 passengers annually. It cost rls 192 billion plus dlrs 38 million to build over a period of seven years.
Once the extension to the railway is completed to connect it with tabas, it will be capable of transporting cargo and passenger from yazd and isfahan provinces and shiraz (fars) to mashhad and from there to central asian republics.
The president arrived in provincial city of chadormalu on thursday to also inaugurate chadormalu iron ore complex. Prior to inauguration of the complex, the president told a huge audience of people that operation of ardakan-chadormalu track and its connection to central asian railway through bafq-mashhad railway will relieve the region from isolation, bringing with it further prosperity for the people.
by IRNA Iranian News Agency 1999
toptehran, march 7, irna -- tehran-karaj express electric train was inaugurated by President Mohammad Khatami sunday. The president and his accompanying delegation including the interior minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari, the governor general of Tehran, and managing director of the Tehran subway as well as a number of senior officials of the country and a group of domestic and foreign reporters were first passengers of the train. They took the 31.4-km train route from malard (karaj) station to azadi square, in western tehran.
Over 100 million passengers annually will be able to use the transportation service. The railway has one track and three stops at Azadi square, Vardavard and Malard. Some 11 more stops are to be made available in the future. The train will be active from monday, carrying passengers from Karaj to tehran and vice versa every day. Its working hours will be temporarily from 11:00 to 14:00 and the train will make one trip to Karaj and another to Tehran on a daily basis. The one way ticket is sold at rls 1,500 at the railway stations. Every train has 1,400 seats for passengers.
topTehran, march 16, irna -- In the presence of president Mohammad Khatami, Tehran-Qom express railway went into operation tuesday afternoon. There are five stations along the 137 km railway. Some 23 million dollars in addition to 210 billion rials have been spent so far on the railway. The railroad project is expected to need an additional 65 billion rials for completion. The second line of the railway, to become operational by the first half of the coming year, would help transport 5.5 million passengers and eight million tons of cargo annually.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the railway, president Khatami said railroad is an efficient means of transportation which is also environmentally clean. However, the president regretted that Iran in terms of railways is not at a satisfactory level. He further noted that the country's railroads have increased to more than 6700 km from the 5,000 before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Khatami lauding the efforts of the engineers and workers who had a role in construction of the Tehran-Qom express railroad, hoped for advancement and comprehensive development of the country specially in transportation sector. Prior to khatami's remarks, managing director of the Islamic Republic railway, Rahman Dadman, said 90 trains will carry 45,000 passengers daily during the new year holidays.
by IRNA Iranian News Agency 1999
topIRANIAN Islamic Republic Railways is hoping to call tenders later this year for construction of the second phase of the Tehran -- Qom -- Esfahan direct line. The first section as far as Qom was opened to passenger services on March 23 following its inauguration by President Mohammad Khatami (RG 4.99 p196).
European manufacturers including Siemens, Alstom and Bombardier have expressed interest in building the line as a turnkey project with local civil engineers. Siemens SGP has a long-standing technology transfer agreement with Iranian rolling stock builder Wagon Pars and has obtained export credit funding from the Austrian government for several projects in the region.
The Qom -- Esfahan line will be around 250 km long, and has been costed at US$500m. Designed for operation at 160 km/h, the new line will cut around 150 km off the Tehran -- Esfahan route and bring journey times down by several hours.
by Reed Business Information 1999
topIranian Islamic Republic Railways has called tenders for the supply of a fleet of air-conditioned diesel multiple-units to operate long-distance services. Bids were invited at the beginning of June for 10 four-car DMUs, with electric or hydraulic transmissions.
RAI Vice-President, Fleet Affairs, A Pourbassir says the intention is to use the trains on routes of 500 to 1,000 km serving the east and south of the country.
Provisional closing date for the tender is August 3.
Further details of tender 11-18-05 may be obtained from:
Purchasing Department
Railways of the Islamic Republic of Iran (RAI)
Shahid Kalantari Building
Rah Ahan Square
PO Box 13185-1498
Tehran, Iran
Fax: +98 21 654 7086 or +98 21 565 0532
by Reed Business Information 1999
topTHROUGH freight and passenger trains between Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are due to start next year, with the backing of the Economic Co-operation Organisation which groups 10 Central Asian countries.
Meeting in Lahore, six of the transport ministers agreed to launch an Almaty - Toshkent - Mashhad - Tehran - Tabriz - Ankara - Haydarpasa passenger service on January 5 2001. Freight trains will be targeted at intermodal traffic. A meeting in Almaty was scheduled for December to discuss the setting up of information systems for ticketing and data exchange.
In Lahore, Iranian and Pakistani railway representatives discussed development of a transhipment complex at Mirjawa on the Pakistan border. RAI confirmed that work was under way on six out of 24 sections of the standard-gauge link from Kerman to Mirjawa, which would replace the existing broad gauge line from Zahedan. PR is keen to see completion of the route, to connect it into the emerging ECO rail network.
PR General Manager Mohammad Aslam has suggested that the Pakistan Inter-Regional Railway Training College in Lahore should be developed to create a common ECO facility.
by Reed Business Information 2000
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Exellent fotos of the new metro can be found on metropla.net
tehran, feb. 21, irna -- the first line of the tehran inter-city railway network (metro) was inaugurated monday in the presence of president mohammad khatami and visiting chinese foreign minister. The 10-km railway line services nine stations starting from the city center to a station in the western part of tehran. eight of the stations are already operational while the last remaining one (majlis station) is slated for inauguration next year.
The electric trains used by the system will have a stoppage time of 60 seconds in each station which will be reduced to 30 seconds gradually. total transport capacity of the line is 640,000 passengers per day. The trains of the western half of the line are each made up of 11 compartments and seven wagons, with a total capacity of 1,290 seated and standing passengers. The maximum speed of the trains is 80 km per hour which will be tempered to an average of 37 km per hour due to stoppages at stations along its route.
After the inauguration ceremony president khatami boarded one of the electric trains to inspect its various compartments, later disembarking at one of the stations. he also took off a train at another station and was greeted by an enthusiastic group of school students waving the three-color iranian flag and chanting "my soul, my body, my life iran." Minister of the interior abdolvahed mousavi lari, tehran mayor morteza alviri, managing director of tehran metro mohsen hashemi and the chinese foreign minister tang jiaxuan were among those who were with the president in the ceremony.
by irna 21/02/2000 12:43
toptehran, march 15, irna -- president mohammad khatami here wednesday inaugurated a project to expand the railway network that will provide more transportation facilities to passengers. A total of rls. 300bn and 4mn deustche marks have been spent on the expansion project which includes private-sector investors.
The ten railway expansion projects include the building of 11 new stations on the tehran-qom and bafq-bandar abbas routes, equipping 10 stations with electronic signs on the rey-shahroud route, and installation of the simorgh train equipped with advanced telecommunication and service facilities.
Building a factory for the production of concrete railway sleepers in shahroud, adding an extra 150 kms to the two-line railway tracks on the tehran-mashhad route, building a passenger station in bandar abbas, building a third passenger platform and cargo stop in mashhad and building a mosque in tehran's station are among the other expansion projects.
In addition, the president also viewed an exhibition in tehran's railway station on aspects of the railway organization's expansion and promotion projects and its performance in the past twenty years. Likewise, he also inaugurated the first `simorgh' passenger train (a train equipped with service and telecomunication facilities) which travels to and from mashhad.
by irna 15/03/2000 13:53
top0803][TR][IR] (Istanbul Haydarpasa - Ankara -) Tatvan - train-ferry - Van - Özalp - Kapiköy TCDD - Razi RAI (- Tehran): (R.0233, 0258) In June 2000 the Istanbul - Ankara - Tatvan - Tehran Vangölü Ekspresi (= Lake Van Express) was booked to leave Istanbul three days a week (MWSO) and arrive Tatvan WFMO, with TCDD stock. The line from Tatvan Gar (= station) to Tatvan Iskele (= quay) may or may not be used on Mondays and Fridays, but it is served on Wednesday afternoons, when the train-ferry takes the passengers and a single TCDD baggage-car east across the lake to Van Iskele (km0.0). Van Gar is at km6.8. At Van, the baggage-car is coupled to some eight Iranian Acm-type first-class couchettes, and the train then calls at Özalp and Kapiköy before crossing the Turkey-Iran frontier at km116.7, continuing towards Tehran. The westbound ferry-boat working is on Wed night/Thu morning. TCDD have no booked freight trains east of lake Van in summer 2000.
by Branch Line Society (BLS) International News June 2000
topDamascus, Sept. 13, IRNA -- Iran and Syria have struck a deal to commission Tehran-Damascus return train through the Turkish territory, wrote a Syrian weekly here Tuesday.
The Damascus-based Arabic `Al-Baath Al-Eqtesadi' wrote the train would travel back and forth from Tehran to Damascus once a week.
The agreement reached during a recent meeting between Iran-Syria railway officials provides the railways of the two countries to cooperate in such fields as transportation, public utility services, transit of goods, production of railway machinery, exchange of experts, and establishment of a joint research center in Halab.
The weekly also reported that Syrian and Iranian railway officials are to invite the Turkish side to a joint meeting in Halab to further prepare the ground for commissioning the Tehran-Damascus train.
by irna 13/9/2000
topJANUARY 10 is due to see the launch of a container shuttle service from Uzbekistan to the Gulf via Sarakhs, following the signing of an accord in Tehran during November between Uzbekiston Temir Yollari and Iranian Islamic Republic Railways.
According to UTY Operations Director Farhod Jalalov, the shuttle will run from Akaltyn, in Uzbekistan's Syrdarya region, through Turkmenistan to Sarakhs, and then to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. He says Uzbek firms are interested in shipping cotton products via the service. The train will initially operate weekly, with 26 wagons each conveying two containers. End-to-end journey time is put at 84h.
UTY has also signed a co-operation protocol with Kazakhstan Railways for introduction of container shuttle services on the Almaty - Tehran - Istanbul route.
UTY Chairman Ravshan Zohidov has been appointed head of the country's Traceca commission, negotiating with neighbouring governments for development of the so-called Transport Corridor Europe - Caucasus - Asia, which was formally launched by an intergovernmental summit in Baku in 1998.
by Reed Business Information 2001
topAnkara, March 5, IRNA -- Following eight years of suspension, the first train service between Tehran and Istanbul will be launched in a special ceremony on March 12, Turkish Rail Road Organization announced on Monday.
The report said that the train will depart Tehran for Istanbul March 13.
According to the agreement between the two countries, the train service on the Tehran-Van-Istanbul will operate once in a week.
The train will leave Istanbul on Monday, March 12 and reach Tehran on Wednesday, March 14. The train from Tehran will depart on March 13 and arrive in Istanbul on March 15.
The first train between Tehran-Damascus via Turkey will leave Tehran on March 10 and arrive in Damascus on March 12, said the report.
The Damascus-Tehran train will leave Damascus on March 10 and reach Tehran on March 12, the report added.
Iran and Turkey reached an agreement to resume services on the routes during the recent visit to Tehran by Turkish Minister of Transport and Communications Enis Oksuz.
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picture by Hamshahri
Tehran, Aug 28, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami here Tuesday inaugurated the first line of a three-phase subway network currently under construction to connect the 12-million city's down-trodden south to the plush north.
The "No. 1" line covers a 10-kilometer track starting at Ali-Abad station in the south and ending in Darvazeh Dowlat (government) station, near the former U.S. Embassy.
The second line, scheduled for inauguration in winter, will start from the vicinity of the embassy and end in Mirdamad Street in the north.
The third line will take passengers from Ali-Abad station to the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini, in the far south.
The project, built by Iranian experts and Chinese know-how, has cost 2,500 billion rials thus far. The country is said to be spending 800 million dollars annually on the project.
The "number 2" east-west line, built on a 10-kilometer track, was inaugurated last year.
Tehran's first subway, the "number five," became operational two years ago and whisks residents from Karaj, 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) west of Tehran, to the capital.
The subway network is hoped to ease traffic jam in this megacity, one of the world's most polluted and congested.
Roughly two million cars, burning 10 million liters of fuel each day, commute on the city's streets.
Some 4,600 people in Tehran die every year from pollution-related illnesses, according to official statistics.
Much of the pollution is blamed on dilapidated cars which jam the city's highways and streets. Most cars plying the city's streets are unequipped to use lead-free petrol.
Tehran subway director Mohsen Hashemi was earlier quoted as saying that following Tuesday's inauguration, Tehran will have a 60-kilometer (37.2 miles) train network with 30 service stations.
"Unfortunately, this is still very insufficient," Hashemi was cited as saying.
"Eight other stations must be constructed to respond to the needs of the city," he said, adding that construction work on the project could still take decades to complete.
"Thus far, 300,000 people use the subway. Once the entire project is completed, the figure could surpass one billion annually," he was cited as saying.
Tehran, Aug 28, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami said on Tuesday that Iran will stand 20th in the world in the next four years in terms of metro transport facility.
Inaugurating the new line of Tehran Metro, the president said that three years ago Tehran had no metro transport, with the launching of 50 km metro line, Tehran now ranks 33rd among 110 large cities and with the completion of the second phase of Line One, Tehran Metro will bring metropolis Tehran to the 30th rank by the end of the current Iranian year in March 2002.
He said that 30 km subway line will be added to Tehran's metro in the next three years so that the capital will rank 20th compared with the large cities of the world in the next four years.
The president said that construction of subway was a dream of the Iranian officials and people adding that the metro will help lower air pollution, sound pollution and hence safeguard public health as well as cut down on time and fuel consumption.
He said that lack of metro transport in Tehran had made city life difficult and air pollution caused by car fuels had posed threat to public health, therefore, previous governments should have built metro in Tehran several years ago.
President Khatami said that launching the metro in Tehran helped save 28 million hours time of the people and 60 million liters of petrol in the past single year indicating the urgency of metro for Tehran from the economic perspective, one one hand, and the life safety standard, on the other.
He said that Iran's petrol consumption stood at 15 billion liters annually, part of which is being imported. The metro will help lower petrol consumption so that Iran will be able to export petrol rather than import it.
President Khatami appreciated former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's contribution to the metro project and the hard efforts put in by Iranian experts since the Iranian year of 1356 (March 1977-March 1978) in cooperation with a Chinese firm.
The president said that bonds worth rls 500 billion will be sold to the public to finance the construction of metro networks in six large Iranian cities this year.
other article at CNN.com
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picture by Hamshahri
Tehran, March 18, IRNA -- The northern half of the Tehran inter-city railway network (metro) was inaugurated Monday with Chairman of the Expediency Council Hojjatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as the guest of honor.
The 7-km railway line services eight stations starting from Mirdamad street in northern Tehran to a station somewhere in the center of the city.
Tehran Mayor Hassan Malek-Madani, former mayor Morteza Alviri, Managing Director of Tehran Subway Mohsen Hashemi, the Chinese deputy prime minister, a member of the Iran-China Joint Economic Commission, Ms W. Uyi, and a number of Majlis deputies were among those who attended the inaugural ceremony of the northern phase of the Tehran subway project. FS/LS
topPROPOSALS for expansion of the Tehran metro were unveiled last month by the Chairman & Managing Director of Tehran Urban & Suburban Railway Co Hashemi Bahramani. He confirmed that TUSRC expects to complete its initial five-line network by March 2005.
Two urban metro lines and the suburban route to Karaj are already in service, totalling 55·5km and 29 stations. The sections now under construction will add 35km and 23 stations.
According to Hashemi, the long-term plans include four more lines and five extensions, which would link the capital to nearby towns. He hopes to put together a public-private partnership under which the municipal authorities would fund the tunnelling, the private sector the stations and national government the mechanical and electrical equipment.
Line 1 would be extended north from Mirdamad to Shariati and south from Haram-e-Motahar to Imam Khomeini Airport, with a suburban feeder continuing to Vavan. Line 2 would continue east from Dardasht to connect with a suburban line to Damavand and Pardis. Line 3 would be extended southwest from Javadieh to Sharyar, and Line 4 from Azadi Square to the domestic airport. Suburban Line 5 would be extended west from Mehrshahr to Hashtgerd.
Line 6 is planned to link Bokharaei in the southeast with Sadeghieh in the northwest, parallelling parts of Lines 1 and 2. Line 7 would loop through the southwest part of the city, connecting Takhti Stadium with Yousef Abad. Line 8 would parallel Line 7, connecting Moshiryeh with Azadi Square via Nazi Abad. Line 9 would also start from Moshiryeh and provide an outer orbital in the northeast sector. Another suburban route would run southeast from Moshiryeh to Varamin.
by Reed Business Information 2002
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