According to Total News, Seyed Miyad Salehi said at the opening ceremony of the 4th Conference on Iran’s Maritime Economy, North-South Corridor, which was held at the Center of International Broadcasting Conferences, the combination of these two areas of transportation can bring good reforms for reaching the capacity of the country’s competitive advantages in the field of transportation. The geopolitical position of the country in the region and the world, the presence of the strategic area of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz in the place where the important north-south and east-west corridors cross the territory, the existence of extensive railway networks in the country, provided a very high capability in the development of economic growth capacities through the sea, especially maritime transportation, the development of maritime tourism, the development of fisheries, and the development of marine oil and gas industries.
The CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways continued his speech and addressed the field of goods transit and said, Iran is connected to Bandar Abbas several thousand kilometers by rail to the countries of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, China, etc. In fact, we can be an advanced crossing for the passage of goods in the world, which is an important part of the railway lines. Sarkhs to Bandar Abbas route, which is 1,800 kilometers long, can be an excellent rail route for transporting goods from Russia to India.
Salehi further added, there are 6 rail axes in the north-south corridor. 2 in the East of the Caspian Sea, 2 in the West of the Caspian Sea, and 2 intermediate routes that connect to the Caspian Sea, including Amirabad and Caspian Port, the first of which is currently connected, and the second (Caspian Port) will be connected in the coming months.
He stated, many of the problems of the combined route of Bandar Rail have been solved now. In addition, the rail route definitely has a much lower fuel consumption and thus is more profitable than road transit. In terms of rail transport infrastructure, before 2021, the production record of new wagons was less than 1000 units. In 2022, this amount reached 1,598 wagons and we were able to reach 90% of domestic production. Therefore, we will not have any problem for the transit of goods in terms of the number of wagons and locomotives.
Salehi considered Iran as a transit highway and said, Iran is one of the countries that, due to the number of landlocked countries located in its neighborhood, is the closest location for the connection and functional link between the East and West of the world, and it benefits from the advantages of sea transit on land and sea, especially for its neighbors. In the north of Iran, the Caspian Sea is the best connection between the countries of Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc.
The CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways finally stated, international corridors are the link between the big markets of production, distribution and consumption. Considering the dimension of the route of non-neighboring countries, many land corridors end in port and sea areas, and we can make the most of the territorial advantages with proper planning.