The event, held on 9 February in the Iranian town Tabriz, was attended by Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways (RZD), as well as by the Heads of Iranian Railways, Iran’s Ministry of Transport and other officials. The RZD President attended also bilateral meetings with Iranian officials. The 46km railway branch line located on the outskirts of Tabriz due for electrification has an alternating current with a voltage of 25 kV and an industrial frequency of 50 Hz. The line serves the local community and the university in the town of Azarshahr and links the passenger terminals in Tabriz with the university. It also joins the line between Djulfa and Tabriz, which was electrified in 1979. The contract to electrify the Tebriz - Azarshahr (TARE) line was signed on 29 March 2008 by Vladimir Yakunin, the President of Russian Railways and Mr. Hassan Ziyari, the President of Iranian Railways (RAI) as a direct result of agreements reached in Moscow on 13 December 2007 during the seventh meeting of the Permanent Russian-Iranian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.