Kheirollah Khademi, a deputy minister of roads and urban development made the announcement on Saturday, saying the 132-kilometer route will make the Tehran-Tabriz journey approximately 114 kilometers shorter, reducing the travel time by five and a half hours.

In recent years, the Iranian administration has ramped up efforts to boost the country’s railroad industry.

The project is aimed at reducing the costs and the time of railroad and maritime deliveries between the countries located along the route.

According to reports, the transportation of 2 million passengers and 7 million tons of cargo has been targeted via the Mianeh-Bostanabad railroad over the next two decades.

The Mianeh-Bostanabad railroad is also envisaged to create 200 direct jobs, and 16 million liters of fuel will be saved annually through cargo and passenger transportation via this railroad.