Highlighting the importance of the railroad line between the cities of Qazvin and Rasht in the North-South Corridor Project, Mohammad Eslami said its construction will be completed on schedule and the project will be inaugurated in late February 2019.

The minister said completion of the project will facilitate not only rail travels, but also transportation of goods by railroad to the Caucasus and beyond.

He added that Iran has plans to extend the railroad line to the border city of Astara, saying the project will be put out to tender in the next Iranian year.  

The idea of the international North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) was formalized by India, Iran and Russia in 2000.

The long corridor connects India to Russia through Iran’s southeastern port city of Chabahar.