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Russia may push Iran-Armenia rail link

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  • Russia may push Iran-Armenia rail link

    http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=181 941

    Saturday, November 8, 2008
    Russia may push Iran-Armenia rail link

    Construction of a rail link to Iran is likely to be pushed forward
    with Russian backing.


    At a meeting in Sochi in September, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
    discussed the project with his Armenian counterpart Serch Sarkissjan
    as part of a cooperation agreement between the two countries.

    The Russian Rialways (RZD) subsidiary South Caucasus Railway took over
    the operation of the Armenian rail network on June 1 under a 25-year
    concession, but Armenia's only active international rail link runs via
    Georgia, as the lines to Turkey and Azerbaijan are out of use.

    Initial proposals for a line into Iran were first floated in 2006, and
    feasibility studies for three possible alignments are currently
    underway. One would start from Eraskh on the line to Ararat, one from
    the current terminus at Vardenis and the other from Gagarin, to the
    northeast of Yerevan.

    The link would require around 80 km of new construction in
    northwestern Iran, running from the Armenian border on the Aras River
    to Marand on Tabriz-Djolfa line.

    According to Armenian Minister of Transport and Communications Gurgen
    Sargsyan, the line is expected to cost around 2 billion U.S. dollars.

    Iran and Armenia have agreed to set up a working group, in which the
    Russians may be invited to participate.

    (Source: railwaygazette.com)
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