Last week, the Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) Miad Salehi visited Russia to attend a meeting of the Coordinating Council for Trans-Eurasian Transport (CCTT). At this meeting, an agreement was concluded with Russian Railways (RZD) to increase the volume of transit between Russia and India via Iran from the previous agreement targeted 10 million yearly tons to 12 million tons of cargo per year.
“With the targeting of 12 million tons of transit in today's agreement with the head of Russian Railways, a new page is opened in Iran's international rail relations,” said Salehi.
According to the Tehran Times, Russia has also agreed with Iran to invest in the establishment of logistics hubs to increase transit capacity, especially at the ports of Shahid Rajaee and Chabahar in southern Iran.
The first official and regular RZD freight train service started less than a month ago, at the end of October. The Russian freight trains travel approximately 3,800 kilometers from Moscow to Sarkhes on Iran's northeastern border and after crossing the country, the cargo will be shipped to India from the Bandar Abbas Port.
Shortly after the signing of the agreement, the first Russian freight train arrived at Iran's Sarakhs railway station in Khorasan-Razavi province on the border with Turkmenistan and officially started operating the eastern section of the INSTC. According to Russian officials, there is the capacity for further growth of transported goods. The total capacity of the INSTC, including all its different branches, may reach up to 15.4 million tonnes per year. However, the Russians would like to double the total capacity of the corridor and reach up to 35.4 million tonnes of cargo per year.
