In the second half of the 19th century, during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, a short horse-driven suburban railway was established south of Tehran that was later converted to steam. This line was closed in 1952.

The Tabriz–Jolfa–Julfa (Russia) line (146 km) was opened in 1915 (in 1916 official opening), the Sufian–Sharafkhaneh (53 km) in 1916, and the Mirjaveh–Zahedan (93 km) in 1920. In 1915–1918, the Russians built and operated a military narrow-gauge railway Shakhtakhty (Russia) - Maku (Iran)- Bayazed (Turkey).

World War II 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 1939. The railroad was built with rail weighing 67 pounds per yard (33 kg/m) and required more than 3000 bridges. There were 126 tunnels in the Zagros mountains. The longest was 1.5 miles. Grades averaged 1.5 percent south of Tehran, but then increased to 2.8 percent to cross the 7,270-foot pass between Tehran and the Caspian Sea. Following 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. The British built a branch line from the 3000-foot (900-meter) bridge over the Karun river in Ahvaz to a new southern port at Khorramshahr on the Shatt al-Arab 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

Before the Islamic revolution After the transportation minister visited a Japanese new high speed railway in 1975 he invited them to study a new high speed line between Tehran and Mashhad. a delegation came to Iran for this study and their proposal was prepared with three options:

1- Double tracking, signaling and electrification of existing route with 160 km/h speed.

2- Constructing a new dedicated high speed line with 210 km/h like japan as the second country in the world.

3- Constructing a new dedicated high speed line with 270 km/h that was more than Japanese one.

and for the third one they explained the 10 year duration of project that was enough to develop the new generation of high speed trains.

Challenging construction The Trans-Iranian railway traverses many mountain ranges, and is full of spirals and 1 in 36 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 even before the line opened. Nevertheless, the line was completed ahead of schedule.

In recent years the railways have undergone significant 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 Start End Lengthin km Start End of Route of Construction Tehran Ray 9 1884 1886 Mahmudabad Amol 16 1882 1887 Tehran Karaj 41 1895 1903 Tabriz Jolfa 148 1912 1916 Sufian Sharafkhaneh 53 1913 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

References