Tehran – The Italian State Railways Group is at the forefront of Iran’s railway development. Active in the area since 2001, the FS Group has recently restarted contacts with the national Iranian Railways company, RAI, and is engaged in Iran with the holding company and through Italferr (engineering company) and Italcertifer (certification). “Italferr – reads a statement – has been selected to provide technical assistance for the design of a high speed line between Tehran-Qom-Isfahan (400 km), and is also following the electrification of the Tehran-Mashhad line (about 900 km). Italcertifer has instead operated in the Iranian market for about two years, working on the preliminary design of the Iranian Railways Test Centre, and participating in the tender for the Mashhad subway, and is currently ‘preferred bidder’, pending the contract signature. Iran’s railway infrastructure extends for about 10,000 kilometers and includes an expansion of the network to 25,000 km by 2025, of which 7,500 km of lines is already under construction. The MoU signed by the Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Graziano Delrio and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Akhoundi, creates the conditions for the Italian rail system to become a main partner for the development of the Iranian railway network.” On 15 December, the Deputy Minister of Transport Aghaei, also President of Iranian Railways, met with the CEO of the Italian FS Renato Mazzoncini, visiting the facilities of the Italian FS Group, and traveling on the high speed network. (9Colonne)
