BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 12. In the Iranian
province of Ardabil, in the northwest of the country, preparations
are underway to commission the 175-kilometer Ardabil–Miyaneh
railway section, which will connect the Parsabad district in
Ardabil Province with the Miyaneh district in East Azerbaijan,
deputy executive director of the Iranian Company for Construction
and Development of Transport Infrastructure, Abbas Khatibi, told
local media, Trend
reports.
According to him, although construction of the railway section
has been completed, the Ardabil–Miyaneh line has not yet been put
into operation for certain reasons.
Khatibi noted that in recent weeks, the Iranian Railway Company
held a meeting to determine train velocities, and the line will
soon be put into operation. From a technical standpoint, all
necessary work has already been completed.
In addition, it is noted that the commissioning of this railway
line will not only connect Ardabil Province to Iran’s national
railway network but also establish a rail link with the Imishli
region of Azerbaijan, opening a new transit corridor toward the
South Caucasus, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the countries of
Eastern Europe. Currently, the Ardabil–Miyaneh line is ready for
operation, but construction of the 270-kilometer Ardabil–Parsabad
section remains to be completed.
Meanwhile, last year, Ardabil Governor Masoud Emami Yeganeh said
in an interview with Trend that feasibility studies for the construction of
the Ardabil–Parsabad railway line had been completed. The Iranian
Planning and Budget Organization is currently working on issuing a
technical license for the construction of this line.
On the Ardabil–Miyaneh railway line, passenger trains are
expected to travel at 160 km/h and freight trains at 120 km/h. It
is estimated that this line will transport 600,000 passengers and
2.5 million tons of freight annually, and by the 20th year of its
operation, 1.5 million passengers and 4 million tons of
freight.
