Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan will come on stream in six months, Deputy Director of Construction & Development of Infrastructures Transportation Company (CDITC) Seyed Masoud Nasr Azadani said on Feb. 26, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported.
"During a meeting with Turkmen side, it was decided that the project will come on stream in the next six month," he said.
He went on to note that Iran has constructed the major portion of the railway on its soil and only 400 meters is left.
IRNA News Agency also quoted Khanmamed Ataev, a senior engineer with the Ministry of Railway Transport of the Republic of Turkmenistan, as saying that Ashgabat will fulfill its obligations in the project.
"Turkmenistan will finish its part of construction in 3 months," he said.
Ataev went on to note that Iran and Turkmenistan will construct a joint bridge on Atrek River in six months.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Feb.15 that the construction of Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway will be completed and put into operation soon, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Zarif made the remarks at a meeting with his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov.
Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railway is a part of the North-South international transport corridor.
The Fars News Agency reported in January that Turkmenistan will complete its own section of the Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railway by October this year.
The Turkmen president has ordered his deputy for transport and communication affairs that the Turkmen section of the railway should be completed by October 2014.
Over 180 kilometers of the railway in Turkmenistan was constructed in 2013. Just 90 kilometers of the Turkmen section of the railway has remained to be built.
Intergovernmental agreement on the project "North-South" was signed in 2007 between Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan. The planned volume of traffic on the route will not be more than 10 million tons a year.
The project will open access to the Persian Gulf and Central Asia for countries in Asia and Europe. Similar opportunities will also appear for the transit of goods from countries in South-East and South Asia, the Indian Ocean coast to the states of Eastern and Northern Europe via Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia.
This path is several times shorter than passing through the Suez Canal. The railway will play a huge role in the desert areas of social infrastructure in the Caspian region and the Northern Territory - from the border with Kazakhstan to Bereket.
© Trend News Agency 2014
