Gorgan-Inche Boroun railroad was inaugurated on 3 December 2014 in a ceremony at a remote train station on the border of Iran and Turkmenistan. Presidents of Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan oversaw the opening of the line in the Turkmen frontier village of Ak-Yayla.
The first efforts have been made based on a common declaration signed by the presidents of Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan on 16 October 2007 to create the corridor; then a memorandum of understanding was concluded among the Governments of the three countries on 1 December 2007 on the concerned issue.
“The inauguration of this railroad is to the benefit of not only these three countries, but also to the regional countries and any other country directly or indirectly benefiting from it,” said President Rohani at the inauguration ceremony.
While noting that Iranian people wish to travel to other countries more easily, he added, “they also wish for their cargo to arrive more easily at their destinations in other countries. Thus, we must develop relations to the point where conditions will be provided for cooperation among these three large countries.”
“This railroad has the capacity to handle millions of tons of cargo or thousands of passengers through a year, and at the same time we will have plans to increase its capacity,” asserted Rohani.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan, while stressing that these three countries have similar objectives in maintaining security and economic development, added, “the completion of this project will increase our countries’ share in global markets.”
Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow, president of Turkmenistan also maintained that this rail network whose most railroads are located in Asia is highly secure.
Gorgan-Inche Boroun railroad, which is the second north-south corridor, connects three countries of Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan; it is 908km, with 88km built in Iran, 700km in Turkmenistan, and 140km in Kazakhstan, and flanks the east of Caspian Sea, connecting CIS railroad to Persian Gulf and Southeast Asian countries.
The time it takes for the transit of goods through this railroad is 48 hours and the transportation costs will drop considerably. The line is also planned to be eventually opened to passengers.
It is estimated that 3-5 m tons of freight will be carried yearly along this corridor and this will increase to 10-12 m tons in near future.
(Source: RAI)
