China to provide $2 billion finance for electrifying Tehran- Mashhad railway
EghtesadOnline: The busiest railroad linking Tehran to the holy northeastern city of Mashhad, Iran will be electrified by Chinese finance worth $2 billion.
“China has agreed to provide $2 billion finance for the project and the agreement is expected to be signed in June,” Iran’s deputy minister of road and urban development for international affairs Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said.
According to ISNA, the project aims to electrify the 926 km railway from Tehran to the city of Mashhad, Iran’s primary pilgrimage site which attracts tens of millions of visitors each year.
The project envisages reforms and construction of the current Tehran-Mashhad railroad for trains with 200km/h speed, electric railroad for trains with 250km/h speed and purchase of 70 electric locomotives.
By signing the agreement, Chinese will achieve the second biggest railway project in Iran after the Tehran - Isfahan high-speed railway.