Iran uses oil barter to add 300 wagons to its railway fleet

Mohammad Hadi Ziaei, who is a deputy director of the IRIR, said on Wednesday that the new wagons would soon join the company’s fleet once paperwork and other administrative formalities are completed.

Ziaei said the wagons were imported using funds held in countries that have oil trade with Iran. 

He said that Iran’s national railway will need an additional 1,000 wagons to respond to the current demand for both freight and passenger transport.

The official said that domestic manufacturers will also supply new sets of wagons to the IRIR and its subsidiary companies in the near future.

Iran has previously used proceeds from oil exports, particularly to China, to import equipment and machinery under barter mechanisms.

Facing US sanctions that restrict its access to foreign technology, Iran has relied on domestic resources to sustain and expand a rail system network that has continued to grow in recent years.

The expansion has been supported by increased government investment and rising demand for freight transit inside and via the Iranian territory.

Official figures show the number of operational wagons in Iran’s railway fleet declined from 2,200 in 2010 to 1,200 in 2025, mainly as a result of fleet aging and limited investment.

The IRIR announced in June last year that it had supplied hundreds of new home-made rolling stocks to the country’s rail network, including 516 new freight wagons, eight new passenger coaches, and 12 new locomotives, as well as 17 renovated coaches and five renovated locomotives./isna