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History of rail transport in Iran

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History of rail transport in Iran
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In the second half of the 19th century, during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, a short horse-driven suburban railway was established south of Tehran that was later converted to steam. This line was closed in 1952.

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Photograph of a Qajar era train car, Golestan Palace albums

The TabrizJolfaJulfa (Russia) line (146 km) was opened in 1915 (in 1916 official opening), the SufianSharafkhaneh (53 km) in 1916, and the MirjavehZahedan (93 km) in 1920. In 1915–1918, the Russians built and operated a military narrow-gauge railway Shakhtakhty (Russia) - Maku (Iran)- Bayazed (Turkey).

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World War II

Summarize
Perspective

The 1,392 km (865 mi) long Trans-Iranian Railway from Bandar Shah on the Caspian Sea to Bandar Shahpur on the Persian Gulf was opened during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1939. The railroad was built with rail weighing 67 pounds per yard (33 kg/m) and required more than 3000 bridges. There were 126 tunnels in the Zagros mountains. The longest was 1.5 miles. Grades averaged 1.5 percent south of Tehran, but then increased to 2.8 percent to cross the 7,270-foot pass between Tehran and the Caspian Sea. Following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, this Persian Corridor became one of the supply routes for war material for the Soviet Union during World War II. The British built a 75-mile (121 km) branch line from the 3000-foot (900-meter) bridge over the Karun river in Ahvaz to a new southern port at Khorramshahr on the Shatt al-Arab river. In 1943, 3,473 American soldiers of the Military Railway Service began running trains between the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea using ALCO RS-1 locomotives rebuilt with 3-axle trucks and designated RSD-1.[1] The Americans set up headquarters in Ahvaz, but were unable to tolerate the daytime heat, and generally operated the railway at night.[2]

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Before the Islamic revolution

After the transportation minister visited a Japanese new high speed railway in 1975 he invited them to study a new high speed line between Tehran and Mashhad. a delegation came to Iran for this study and their proposal was prepared with three options:

1- Double tracking, signaling and electrification of existing route with 160 km/h speed.

2- Constructing a new dedicated high speed line with 210 km/h like japan as the second country in the world.

3- Constructing a new dedicated high speed line with 270 km/h that was more than Japanese one.

and for the third one they explained the 10 year duration of project that was enough to develop the new generation of high speed trains.

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Challenging construction

The Trans-Iranian railway traverses many mountain ranges, and is full of spirals and 1 in 36 ruling grades. Much of the terrain was unmapped when construction took place, and its geology unknown. Several stretches of line, including tunnels, were built through unsuitable geology, and had to be replaced even before the line opened. Nevertheless, the line was completed ahead of schedule.

In recent years the railways have undergone significant extensions including the 1977 linking to the western railway system at the Turkish border, the 1993 opening of the Bandar Abbas line providing better access to the sea, and the 1996 opening of the MashadSarakhs extension as part of the Silk Road railway to link to the landlocked Central Asian Countries.

Railway construction

Source:[3]

RouteLength in kmDate of Construction
Tehran– Ray91884–1886
MahmudabadAmol161882–1887
TehranKaraj411895–1903
TabrizJolfa1481910–1914
SufianSharafkhaneh531913–1916
ZahedanMirjaveh941912–1921
TehranBandar Shah4611928–1938
TehranBandar Shahpur9281928–1939
AhvazKhorramshahr1211942–1943
Sar BandarMahshahr121950–1951
GarmsarMashhad8121938–1958
TehranTabriz7361939–1959
GorganBandar Shah351960–1961
TabrizBazargan1921912–1971
QomZarand8471939–1971
IsfahanZarrin Shahr1111969–1972
ZarandKerman801975–1979
BafqBandar-Abbas6261982–1995
Aprin–Maleki241993–1997
Aprin–Mohammediya-21221994–1999
ChadormaluMeibod2191992–1999
Mohammediya-2–Mohammediya-161994–1999
BafqKashmar8001992–2001
IsfahanShiraz5062004–2009
KermanZahedan5462002–2009
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References

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