Islamic Republic of Iran Railways

In 1886, during the time of Nasser-al-Din Shah, an 8.7 km 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) metre gauge 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.[3][4] 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.

The 1,392 km (865 mi) long Trans-Iranian Railway from Bandar Shah (now Bandar Torkaman) on the Caspian Sea to Bandar Shahpur (now Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni) on the Persian Gulf was opened during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1939. The railroad was built with rail weighing 33 kilograms per metre (67 lb/yd) and required more than 3000 bridges. There were 126 tunnels in the Zagros mountains, the longest of which was 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi). Grades averaged 1.5 percent south of Tehran, but then increased to 2.8 percent to cross the 2,220-metre (7,270 ft) pass between Tehran and the Caspian Sea.

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 121-kilometre (75 mi) branch line from the 2,953-foot (900 m) 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.[5] The Americans set up headquarters in Ahvaz, but were unable to tolerate the daytime heat, and generally operated the railway at night.[6] The Persian Gulf Command ran trains day and night.[7]

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. 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.

Following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, American and British railroad crews pose alongside a locomotive, ca. 1943

A railway bridge at Do Ab, Mazanderan Province on the Gorgan — Bandar Shah line, 2007

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.[8][9]

Passengers on board a train from Yazd to Tehran watch movies and sleep, 2014

Pardis trains being unloaded in Shahid Rajai Port, Iran

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 kilometers by 2015 and 25,000 kilometers by the year 2025.[17][18] The State Railways Company has 300 locomotives with an average lifespan of 40 years.[19] 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.[20] In 2009, €17 billion in foreign investment in the rail industry has been secured, according to the Ministry of Road and Transportation of Iran.[21]

Shiraz train station

The North-South railway is complete between Qazvin and Bandar Abbas; the line was expected to be completed as far as Azerbaijan by the end of 2016.[26] Qazvin to Astara is 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 Astara railway needs another four years to be completed.[27]

Iran's first rail link to the outside world appeared simultaneously with the beginning of the country's railway system, as Iran's first major railway (1916) connected Tabriz with Jolfa on the border with the Russian Empire. The link continued its importance throughout the USSR era; Iran and the USSR signed an agreement on cross-border rail transport in 1940, and amended it in 1958.[28] It is reported that during the late-Soviet era, some 350 railcars crossed the border at Jolfa daily, with the annual amount of cross-border freight reaching 3.5 million tons.[29] However, after the breakup of the USSR and the closing of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan the Jolfa connection became a dead end, as it only links Iran with the isolated Nakhichevan exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan.[30] In 2007, Iranian Railways, Azerbaijan State Railway and Russian Railways agreed on implementing the project to build a new line between Qazvin, Resht, Astara, Iran and Astara, Azerbaijan. In April 2017, Russia and India celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations and vowed to complete the North-South Transportation Corridor (NSTC) with the help of Iran. The NSTC reduces time and cost of travel by 30-40%.[31]There is presently no direct railway connection between Iran and Armenia, even though the two countries share a border. In 2009, Iran and Armenia agreed to build a railway linking Armenia with Iran’s Persian Gulf ports.[32]

In 1996, Mashhad–Sarakhs extension connected Iran to Turkmenistan,as part of the Silk Road railway to link to the landlocked Central Asian Countries.Former states of the Soviet Union have railways using a 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in) Russian gauge,thus the Iranian Railways maintain break-of-gauge services at borders to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan,and beyond brief wide-track rail segments to the border crossing.The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway link is a part of the North-South Transport Corridor and is a 677 km (421 mi)long railway line connecting the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with Iran and the Persian Gulf.It will link Uzen in Kazakhstan with Bereket - Etrek in Turkmenistan and end at Gorgan in Iran's Golestan province.In Iran,the railway will be linked to national network making its way to the ports of the Persian Gulf.The project is estimated to cost $620m which is being jointly funded by the governments of Kazakhstan,Turkmenistan and Iran.[33]

Iran extends its railway system to Iraq and Syria(01-2007)

Feasibility studies were started on Khorramshahr-Basra and Kermanshah-Baghdad links with Iraq.[34] As of 2014, the Iranian line to Khorramshahr was finished,[35] but construction had not started on the track from the Iraqi border to Basra. In 2017, the West Corridor was expanded from Arak to Malayer and Kermanshah. The Iranian government plans on expanding the network further to Khosravi (Iran-Iraq) border by 2018.[36] Mashhad-Khvaf-Afghanistan's Border-Islam Qala railway is being constructed by an Iranian firm, with funding from the Afghan government, but the section in Afghanistan remains incomplete.[36][37][38]

In 1977, the Iranian railways linked to the western railway system at the Turkish border. The route to the west into Turkey terminates at Van with a 90 km (56 mi) train ferry for both freight wagons and international passenger traffic (baggage car only) across Lake Van, which is at an altitude of 1,650 m (5,413 ft), to Tatvan where it joins the Turkish standard-gauge network.

The construction of the railway from Bam to Zahedan was completed in early 2009 connecting Tehran to Pakistan border with an opening ceremony on 19 July 2009.[39] However international container traffic commenced operations on 14 August 2009 with transshipment (or transloading) between 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) and 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge wagons in the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway Zahedan Exchange Yard on the bypass line.[40] The freight traffic was discontinued however after the initial trial trains, and was only revived in 2015.[41] Iranian Railways have been trying to persuade Pakistan Railways to convert its route to Quetta to standard gauge, in order to facilitate the flow of international traffic to Europe. Pakistan responded in 2006 with a statement that it is to convert its network to standard gauge, and would plan a link with the standard gauge system of China. A through passenger service is being considered[40][42] to supplement the occasional Quetta-Zahedan service, itself a poor shadow of the former Pakistan-Iran 'Taftan Express'.

• Afghanistan-no link-break-of-gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in)-railway link to Afghanistan is being built using 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in)standard gauge.
• Armenia-no link-break-of-gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in).
• Azerbaijan-open-break-of-gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in)-only via the Azerbaijani exclave Nakhchivan; a railway link to Azerbaijan proper is being built.
• Iraq-no link-1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge.
• Pakistan-open-break-of-gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in).
• Turkey-open-1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge.
• Turkmenistan-open-break-of-gauge.1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in).