The Russian Minister of Transport said that Russia will begin conducting engineering research for the construction of the strategic Rashtoastara Railway in the coming months as part of the agreement between Moscow and Tehran.
Rome’s Starvoit told reporters on Wednesday that the railway project’s execution contract is expected to be signed by the end of March 2025, Russian TASS news agency reported.
Additionally, the minister said annex agreements were signed between the two countries on Tuesday, allowing Iran to begin preliminary studies before it completes the process of purchasing and acquiring land on the railway route.
The 162-kilometer railway connects the Iranian city of Rasht near the Caspian Sea to Astara, on the border with Azerbaijan.
Starovoit noted that after research and route design is completed, the final cost of building the railway line will be determined.
According to the report, Russia and Iran signed an agreement on the joint construction of the Rashtoastara route on May 17, 2023. Under the agreement, Moscow is planning to provide Tehran with a government loan of 1.3 billion euros for the project. The total cost of the railway line is estimated to be around 1.6 billion euros.
The project is part of a contract signed by Russia, India and Iran in 2000 and is an international north-south transport corridor that is a network of 7,200 km ships, rails and roadways for Indian and Iranian mobile freight. It is part of an agreement to establish an INSC. , Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia, Europe.
MA/PR