President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated a railroad in northwest Iran on Friday.
The 44-kilometer Bostanabad-Tabriz route saw a maiden train leave from the new Khavaran station in East Azarbaijan Province to the capital city Tehran.
This is the second phase of Mianeh-Tabriz mega project. The first phase stretching 132 kilometers was inaugurated in the fiscal 2020-21, IRNA reported, while work on the third and final phase, which is 29 kilometers long, has already started.
The 205-km East Azarbaijan Province is among the main priorities of Iran’s rail authorities for reducing travel time and distance between Tehran and Tabriz, the capital of East Azarbaijan Province via railroad to 114 km and four hours respectively for passenger services. For cargo services, the travel time will be cut short to five hours. Traveling speed on this route is targeted at 120 km/hour for cargo services and 160 km/hour for passenger services.