Mehrdad Bazrpash made the remark during a visit to the southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan and pointed to the end of operation for excavating the tunnels along the Chabahar-Khash Railway project with the length of 17 km, the Wesbite of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development reported.
By now, more than 65 percent of the 631-km long Chabahar-Zahedan Railway project is completed, he noted.
Chabahar-Zahedan Railroad is the largest infrastructural project in the east of Iran and is very strategic along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as it provides rail connectivity to the ocean port of Chabahar, the roads minister continued.
Upon the completion of the railway, the Chabahar-Zahedan-Sarakhs Railroad will connect the Indian Ocean to the Central Asian countries through railway via the Sarakhs Border.
The Chabahar-Zahedan Railway starts from Chabahar and passes through Iranshahr, Khash, Zahedan, Nehbandan, Birjand, Qaen and Gonabad and connects to Bafaq-Mashhad Railway through Kaleshur Station in Torbat Heydarieh.
Once the construction operation of the railway is complected, Sistan and Balouchestan will be connected to the railway networks of the country and the region, Bazrpash pointed out.
As the largest railway project in Iran, the seventh and eighth parts of the Chabahar-Zahedan Railroad were inaugurated in November 2022, stretching from Zahedan to Khash. It is 155-km long and has one tunnel, 12 large bridges, 21 level crossings, and seven stations.
About 830 km of the International North-South Transport Corridor is located in the Sistan and Balouchestan Province.