Iran completes key rail link in new trade route (VIDEO)

The Chabahar-Zahedan railway line will allow India to bypass Pakistani territory for access to Central Asia and Russian markets, says RT in its exclusive report Iran has completed a key railway line connecting the southern port of Chabahar with Zahedan near its border with Afghanistan, amid a US blockade of its ports and mounting economic pressure from the West.

The 730-km rail link will give Tehran more flexibility to move cargo to neighboring countries from the port, which is being developed by India, RT correspondent Saman Kojouri reports.

The railway is a key link in the strategic International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which is backed by India, Iran, and Russia.

Iran’s broader ambition is to connect its southern ports to transport networks connecting the Caspian Sea and beyond, operationalizing a vast land corridor for market access across Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Russia.

The Chabahar route would be 40% shorter and 30% cheaper than the existing Suez Canal route for moving cargo.

The line, which has 39 tunnels, 201 bridges, and 33 stations, is expected to become operational in the next 2-3 months.

It can also move about 7 million tons of cargo and 1 million passengers annually.

The route will allow India to bypass the territory of arch-rival Pakistan, although sanctions and blockades remain a challenge.

However, New Delhi and Tehran are actively engaged in smoothing out customs, logistics, and operational issues to maximize the line’s commercial potential.

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Srivastava told RT.

He pointed out that India lost that connectivity after partition when Pakistan became a hostile neighbor.

Transit volumes through Chabahar are already up tenfold in the last few months compared to the same period a year ago, the CEO of the Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone, Mohammad Saeed Arbabi, told RT.

The new railway line will further increase transit volumes, creating new opportunities in investment, manufacturing, exports, and re-exports, and thus reinforcing the port’s role as a key transit hub, he said.