BASEL: The Iranian Perse Transport Bar and Switzerland’s TransInvest Holding signed a deal to jointly develop a rail hub in the vicinity of Iran’s capital city Tehran.
Called Aprin Dry Port, the facility will connect Iran’s port cities to the center and will act as Iran’s central cargo train intersection, Trend correspondent reported from the signing ceremony held at Islamic Republic of Iran Railways headquarters September 18. The 25-year contract is to receive an investment of $30 million for its first phase, which will take 2.5 years to become operational.
Aprin Dry Port will be staged 20 kilometers to the southeast of Tehran in an area of 700 hectares. The plan for developing the port was made 40 years ago, but economic problems hindered it so far. Trains will be able to load containers directly from ships at Persian Gulf ports and carry them to Aprin in 60 days. Clearance procedures will be undertaken at Aprin. The contractor has guaranteed a minimum load traffic of 400,000 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) through the port.
The railways company is also planning to develop a double-stack rail transport system from Bandar Abbas (port city by the Persian Gulf) to Aprin in two years.
The dry port is especially significant since its being developed at the same time as the North-South Corridor is under construction. The international corridor will take cargos from India on board ships to Iran, and from there to Azerbaijan, Moscow, and eventually Europe.
