Iran has a state-owned railway system built to standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)) which falls under the remit of the Ministry of Roads & Urban Development. The primary rail carrier is the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (abbreviated as IRIR, or sometimes as RAI, or as IRI Railway) which is the national state-owned railway system of Iran.
In 2008, the IR operated 11,106 km of rail with a further 18,900 km in various stages of development. Almost all of this is standard gauge of , but 94 km are Russian gauge of to link up to ex-Soviet Union border states. There is also the no-longer-isolated Indian gauge section of from Zahedan to the Pakistan border that continues to Quetta and the Indian sub-continent. The extent of double-track lines is 1,082 km. The Jolfa–Tabriz line is electrified (148km). In 2006, IR reported that it possessed 565 engines, 1,192 passenger coaches, and 16,330 wagons. The vast majority of the engines are diesel-powered.
History
Qajar era
In 1886, during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, an 8.7 km horse-driven suburban railway was established south of Tehran, which was later converted to steam. This line was closed in 1952. The First Iranian railway was set up in 1887 between Mahmudabad and Amol; its construction was completely private. However it was not used because of several problems.Persia and the Persian Question The Tabriz–Jolfa line (146 km) was built in 1914, the Sufiyan–Sharafkhaneh line (53 km) in 1916, and the Mirjaveh–Zahedan line (93 km) in 1920.
Interwar period
The long Trans-Iranian Railway from Bandar Shah on the Caspian Sea to Bandar Shahpur on the Persian Gulf was opened during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1938. The railroad was built with rail weighing and required more than 3000 bridges. There were 126 tunnels in the Zagros mountains, the longest of which was . Grades averaged 1.5 percent south of Tehran, but then increased to 2.8 percent to cross the pass between Tehran and the Caspian Sea.
Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran
After the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, this Persian Corridor became one of the supply routes for war material for the Soviet Union during World War II (Railway trend in Iran). The invading British built a branch line from the bridge over the Karun River in Ahvaz to a new southern port at Khorramshahr on the Arvand Rud river. In 1943, 3,473 American soldiers of the Military Railway Service began running trains between the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea using ALCO RS-1 locomotives rebuilt with 3-axle trucks and designated RSD-1.Pinkepank, Jerry A. The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide 1973 Kalmbach Books p.233 The Americans set up headquarters in Ahvaz, but were unable to tolerate the daytime heat, and generally operated the railway at night.DeNevi & Hall United States Military Railway Service (1992) Boston Mills Press pp.8&73-77 The Persian Gulf Command ran trains day and night."Persian Gulf Command" by Joel Sayre 1945, Random House
Challenging construction
The Trans-Iranian railway traverses many mountain ranges, and is full of spirals and 1 in 36 (2.78%) ruling grades. Much of the terrain was unmapped when construction took place, and its geology unknown. Several stretches of line, including tunnels, were built through unsuitable geology, and had to be replaced before the line opened. For example one tunnel went through a salt dome so that ground water was bound to dissolve the foundations; this tunnel and its approaches had to be completely replaced.
The railways have undergone extensions including the 1977 linking to the western railway system at the Turkish border, the 1993 opening of the Bandar Abbas line providing better access to the sea, and the 1996 opening of the Mashad–Sarakhs extension as part of the Silk Road railway to link to the landlocked Central Asian Countries.
Railway construction
In December 2014, a rail line from Iran opened to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The opening of the line marks the first direct rail link between Iran, Kazakhstan and China, and upon completion of the Marmaray rail project direct rail transport between China and Europe (while avoiding Russia) will be possible.
Start End Lengthin km Start End of Route of Construction Tabriz Jolfa 148 1912 1916 Zahedan Mirjaveh 94 1920 1921 Tehran Bandar Torkaman 461 1928 1938 Tehran Bandar Šâhpur 928 1928 1939 Ahvaz Khorramshahr 121 1942 1943 Sar Bandar Mahshahr 12 1950 1951 Garmsar Mashhad 812 1938 1958 Tehran Tabriz 736 1939 1959 Gorgan Bandar Torkaman 35 1960 1961 Sufian Razi 139 1912 1971 Qom Zarand 847 1939 1971 Isfahan Zarrin Shahr 111 1969 1972 Zarand Kerman 80 1975 1979 Bafq Bandar-Abbas 626 1982 1995 Mashhad Sarakhs 165 1993 1997 Aprin Maleki 24 1993 1997 Badrud Meibod 254 1996 1998 Chadormalu Meibod 219 1992 1999 Mohammediya-2 Mohammediya-1 6 1994 1999 Aprin Mohammediya-2 122 1994 1999 Rostamkola Amir Abad Port 25 1996 2001 Kerman Bam 225 1999 2002 Bafq Torbat-e Heydarieh 800 1992 2004 Bam Zahedan 546 2000 2009 Isfahan Shiraz 506 2001 2009 Torbat-e Heydarieh Khaf (Sangan Iron Mine) 146 2004 2010 Khorramshahr Shalamcheh (Iraqi border) 16 2009 2012 Gorgan Etrek 88 2009 2014Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran Railway to Open Today, by Onur Uysal, http://railturkey.org/2014/12/03/kazakhstan-turkmenistan-iran-railway/ Tehran Hamedan 268 2001 2017 Khaf Shamtiq (Afghan border) 78 2007 2017 Arak Kermanshah 267 2001 2018 Maragheh Urmia 183 2003 2018 Qazvin Rasht 164 2006 2018 Yazd Eqlid 271 2015 2021ZahedanKhash15520132022HamedanSanandaj15120062023RashtCaspian3720062024MianehArdabil17420052026
Rolling stock
Iran Railways uses a variety of rolling stock for their services. Trains are operated with diesel and electric locomotives. Steam locomotives have been phased out. Diesel is a strategic industry, and by using this heavy oil as a fuel instead of gas for locomotives, the Islamic Republic of Iran has joined the 12 world countries which manufacture this type of engine.
Operations
The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways is the national state-owned railway system of Iran. The Raja Passenger Train Company is an associate of the IR,Sources: , company website and manages its passenger trains. The Railway Transportation Company is an associate of the IR, which manages its freight transport. The Ministry of Roads & Urban Development is the state agency that oversees the IRIR. Some 33 million tonnes of goods and 29 million passengers are transported annually by the rail transportation network, accounting for 9 percent and 11 percent of all transportation in Iran, respectively (2011). In 2008, the IR operated 11,106 km of rail with a further 18,900 km in various stages of development. Almost all of this is standard gauge of , but 9 km are Russian gauge of to link up to ex-Soviet Union border states. There is also the no-longer-isolated Indian gauge section of from Zahedan to the Pakistan border that continues to Quetta and the Indian sub-continent. The extent of double-track lines is 1,082 km. The Jolfa–Tabriz line is electrified (148 km). In 2006, IR reported that it possessed 565 engines, 1,192 passenger coaches, and 16,330 wagons. The vast majority of the engines are diesel-powered.
Expansion
The majority of transportation in Iran is road-based. The government plans to transport 3.5% of the passenger volume and 8.5% of the freight volume by rail. Extensive electrification is planned. The railway network expands by about 500 km per year according to the Ministry of R&T. According to plan, Iran's railway lines are to reach 15,000 km by 2015 and 25,000 km by the year 2025. The State Railways Company has 300 locomotives with an average lifespan of 40 years. The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, the Iran Power Plant Projects Management (Mapna) and Germany's Siemens have signed a contract for 150 IranRunner locomotives for passenger trains. Siemens is committed to exporting to Iran some 30 locomotives in the first phase, and to manufacturing another 120 using domestic capacities and expertise over the next 6 years (2007). MLC (Mapna Locomotive Engineering and Manufacturing Company) is the manufacturing company responsible for this production. Another locomotive manufacturer in Iran is Wagon Pars which builds AD43C locomotives in partnership with Iranian power plant maker DESA diesel. In 2009, €17 billion in foreign investment in the rail industry has been secured, according to the Ministry of Road and Transportation of Iran.
Network and corridors The railway network converges on Tehran. The Iranian cities of Isfahan and Shiraz were linked to Tehran in 2009. Further extension of this line to Bushehr and Bandar Abbas is planned. Furthermore, the construction of Chabahar-Zahedan-Mashhad railway, extending from southeast to northeast of the country to the length of 1,350 kilometers, started in 2010 with 3 billion euro credit. The western railway extension links to Turkey at the Rāzī–Kapıköy border. There is a northern connection to Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, and Russia has a bogie-changing station at the border at Jolfa. The southern routes connect Tehran to the Persian Gulf ports of Bandar Imam and Bandar Abbas. A line to the Caspian Sea ends at the terminal of Amir Abad and at Bandar Torkaman, and is part of a north–south corridor to Russia and Scandinavia. The north-east corridor connects Mashhad and continues further to the bogie-changing station at Sarakhs. For the landlocked countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan this line provides access to the sea. A recent connection from Mashhad to Bafq has significantly shortened access to the port city of Bandar Abbas. Tehran-Mashhad with a length of 900 km, Tehran-Qom-Esfahan with a length of 410 km (under construction), Qazvin-Rasht-Anzali-Astara with a length of 370 km; will all be built with help from China at a cost of $12 billion. In total, Iran has signed a number of contracts with China for the development of 5,000 km of railway lines.
North-South Railway The north–south railway is complete between Bandar-e Anzali and Bandar Abbas; the line was initially expected to be completed as far as Azerbaijan by the end of 2016. Qazvin to Astara was the missing link in the North-South Transportation Corridor, which links India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia and Finland. Qazvin-Rasht railway was completed in 2018 and Rasht-Anzali in 2023 whilst Anzali-Astara railway needs another four years to be completed.
Links to Azerbaijan and Armenia