A Section of the North-South Transport Corridor Opens in Iran

In Iran, specialists have put into operation the Rasht - Caspian railway branch located in the Gilan province on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. This segment is part of the international North-South transport corridor, according to the Iranian government.

The stretch from the city of Rasht to the Caspian port in northern Iran marks the initial phase of the Rasht-Astarak railway construction. In the future, the next segment is planned to connect the Caspian port to the city of Astarak in northwestern Iran.

“On the last day of spring 1403 (the Iranian calendar year begins in March 2024), the section of the Rasht-Caspian railway was inaugurated with the participation of caretaker president Mohammad Mohberi,” the announcement stated, which was posted on the Iranian government’s Telegram channel.

According to the Iranian ISNA news agency, the Rasht-Caspian railway is one of Iran's most important and priority railway projects to complete the North-South international transport corridor. This project is of great significance for Iran's trade with countries in the Middle East region and Europe.

The 37 km long Rasht-Caspian railway connects Iran’s Southern and Northern ports, serving as a link between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. According to the province's deputy mayor Musa Fakouri, work on this railway project began five years ago. He noted that a small part of the road is located within the territory of the “Henzeli” trade-industrial zone.

The North-South international transport corridor is a multimodal route stretching from St. Petersburg to the Mumbai port in India, with a total length of 7,200 km. Within this corridor, there are three routes: the Trans-Caspian (utilizing railroads and ports), as well as the western and eastern land routes.

In May 2023, Russia and Iran signed construction documentation for the last necessary section of the western North-South route, from Rasht to Astarak, worth 1.6 billion euros. Of this amount, 1.3 billion euros is a loan from Russia, while the remaining funds come from the Iranian side.