Regional Policy Dialogue on Strengthening Transport Connectivity in Southern and Central Asia 7-8 February 2018 United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok

Railways of (RAI) International Affairs By: Ali Abdollahi Y. Malekan Iran & UNESCAP

Main Agreements :

1- TRANS Asian Railways (TAR)

2- Asian Highway Network (AH)

3- Dry Ports ASIAN I.R.I.’s share from Asian Highways Network is HIGHWAYS approximately 11,000 kilometers NETWORK

I.R.IRAN

Map no.4

Regionsin Intergovernmental Agreement Regions requested for building and developing dry ports (ESCAP) province Region Aslan Duz Tehran Imam-Khomeini Airport Aras SarakhsSpecial Khorasan Economic Zone Shahid Motahari Astara Khorasan Sahlan Station SalafcheganSpecial Inche Sarakhs Qom Special Economic Zone Boroun Economic Zone Khuzestan ArvandFreeZone SahlanSpecial Economic East Buin Shahroud Zone Motahari Zahra SirjanSpecial Economic Kerman Aprin Zone ShahidDastgheib Imam-Khomeini Airport Garmsar Fars (Shiraz) International Hamedan Airport Sistan and Salafchegan ZahedanSupport Center Kermanshah Baluchestan Requests from other provinces Kashan Province Region

Ardestan Tehran Aprin Isfahan SistanStation Nain Sistan Isfahan Nain Andimeshk Pishgaman Isfahan Ardestan Isfahan Kashan

Arvand Yazd (Mehriz) Pishgaman Pol-e Fars Pol-e Fasa Fasa Semnan Shahroud Shiraz Sirjan Zahedan Airport Semnan Garmsar East Azerbaijan Aras Free Zone Kermanshah Kermanshah Golestan InchehBoroun Lorestan Andimeshk Hamedan JahanAbad Qazvin BuinZahra Gilan Astara Ardabil AslanDuz ➢ At present, Iran has 11,000km railway lines;

➢ Under construction lines: 6500 km

➢ Our program is to increase the present annual transport of :

➢ 27 million passengers to around 40 million passengers

➢ 41 million tons of freight to 92 million tons until the end of 2020;

➢Railway share in freight transport: 12% ➢Railway share in passenger transport: 8% International Transport of Iranian Railways

Presently, Iranian Railways carries annually: ➢ 12 million tons of international transport out of which ➢ 7.5 million is related to the export by rail, ➢ 3 million tons to import by rail ➢ 1/5 tons to transit;

This amount will increase to 25 million tons in the vision of 2020. Strategic Goals of the Railways of I.R.Iran

➢1- Plan to increase railway share in freight transport: from current 12% to 30% (195 Million Tons/ year by 2021); ➢2- Plan to increase railway share in passenger transport : from -10% to 20% ( 103 Million passengers/ year by 2021); ➢3- Offering competitive advantages to increase transit via rail network of Iran and achieving 40% share in transit market. International Railway Organizations Iranian Railways (RAI) is a member of them

❖ RAI is a member of six legal and specialized International Rail Organizations as below: 1- International Union of Railways (UIC)

2- Organization for Co-operation between Railways (OSJD)

3- Intergovernmental Organization for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF)

4-nternational Rail Transport Committee (CIT)

5-Council for Rail Transport of Community of Independent States (CRT CIS)

6- TEA Iranian Railways is cooperating closely with the Transport Section of the Regional and International Organizations

1- Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)

2- United Nation Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific

3- United Nation Economic Commission for Europe

Corridors passing through Iran ongoing policies and projects if Iranian Railways (RAI) to facilitate cross-border road and rail transport for ease of trade in goods Linking of Iran’s Railway Network to the Neighboring Countries’ Railway Networks

Jolfa

Razi Astara Incheh Boroun Lotf Port of Abad Amirabad Sarakhs

Khosravi Shamtigh

Shalamcheh Khorramshahr Port Imam Mirjaveh Khomeini Port

Bandar Abbas Chabahar Port Iran rail connection with other neighboring networks ▪ Sarakhs and Inche Brun border with Turkmenistan and CIS ▪ Jolfa border and rail connection with Azerbaijan (Nakhjavan) ▪ Razai border with Turkey and connection to Europe ▪ Mirjaveh border and rail connection with Pakistan and Indian subcontinent ▪ Imam Port and connection with int’l warters ▪ Bandar Abbas and connection with int’l waters ▪ Amirabad and connection with Caspian Sea ▪ Rail connection with Iraq and Afghanistan Sarakhs Railway Station Border with Turkmenistan Station Specifications Geographical Position of Sarakhs Station

➢ 10km to Sarakhs city ➢ 7km to the airport of Sarakhs ➢ 1km to main road ➢ 14km to the customs of the border terminal ➢ 5km to international border ➢ Located in neighborhood of Sarakhs Special Economical Zone ➢ Presence of all needed organizations(customs,quarantine,standard,bank, etc. Potentials of the Sarakhs Station

❖ Sarakhs station which is the biggest rail border station of Iran is just 10km away from Sarakhs city. ❖ It is actually the connecting bridge of between railway of Europe and CIS countries. ❖ This station is so vast which is divided into three sets of lines(A,B,C) and is composed of 49 standard gauge lines and 15 broad gauge lines and bogie change line and a place to keep bogies.

❖ Technical and service utilities: ✓ Bogie repair, ✓ Locomotive repair, ✓ Draisine workshop, ✓ Inspection center, ✓ Monitoring and Traffic control, ✓ Bogie change, ✓ Crane, ✓ Track supervising, ✓ Computer site, ✓ Building and installations, ✓ Fire fighting, ✓ Fuel reservoir, ✓ Depot, ✓ Customs, ✓ Exchange section, ✓ Transit services hall, 33 District, Atomic energy, Security, Police Station, Hygiene, etc. Station specifications Drawing of The Station Recent Actions taken in Sarakhs Station for Expediting Wagon Exchanges and Transport Facilitation with CIS countreis

➢ Increasing the capacity of Bogie Exchange from 100 Wagnos to 400 Wagons daily (24 hours) ➢ Developing acceptance and dispatching lines as well as parking lines and also broad guage and normal lines from 25 kilometers to 75 kilometers ➢ Performing Rail exchange operation in24 hours and increasing the capacity of wagon exchange with Turkmenistan Railways from 300 wagons to at least 600 wagons in 24 hours ➢ Concluding MOU with Turkmenistan for the movement of wagons of Iran in the rail network of Turkmenistan ➢ Constructing and launching the depot of Bogie and wagon axle repairs in Sarakhs ➢ Establishing Signaling systems of Sarakhs Railway route ➢ Offering discounts for carrying cargoes from 15 to 50% for transit cargoes for attracting the cargoes towards rail ➢ Mechanalizing international rail transport operation and following up connection with customs system in order to facilitate and expedite in performing cutoms formalities of the wagons ➢ Decreasing the transit time of international cargoes from Sarakhs to Bansar Abbas from one week to 53 hours Geographic Position of Arakhs Railway Station

Developing the present rail lines with the aim of separating the transit route of Sarakhs- Bandar Abbas from the rail route of Tehran- ➢ Constructing the third line of to with the length of 60 kilometers

➢ Plan to Construct the third line of Salam-Fariman as well as making the route of Mashhad to Salam in 4 lines Inche-Borun Railway Station with Turkmensitan Actions to Increase the Capacity Of Inche-Borun Staion and improving Border-Crossing

➢ Establishing Inche-Borun dry port as the largest multimodal transportation terminal and freight & goods transit site in the north of the country (at the land allocation stage) ➢ Constructing the silo of grain in Gorgan railway station with the capacity of 6000 tons ➢ Construction of the Bogie exchange site at Inche- Borun Station , Increasing the capacity of the station by constructing the lines of 8،9 and 10 ➢ lines at the Inche Borun station. ➢ Construction of the broad gauge rail line of Inche- Borun station including 4 tracks with the length of 3200 meters. ➢ Development of the infrastructures of Inche- Borun station with the construction of 4120 meters of Stations tracks in Inche Borun ➢ Construction of the Iron Ore and Clinker loading yard at Inche Borun Station ➢ Construction of a rail weighing system at Inche Borun terminal and cabling Trains from China to Iran from Inche-Borun Station

❖ So far 6 container trains from China to Iran Have come through Inche-Borun Station

❖ In 2016, there was also transit of some fruits from Pakistan to Kazakhstan in refrigerator wagons through this route. Iran-Turkey Rail Border Razi Station

❖ Razi station has a key role in transport and transit between European Countries and also CIS countries and vice-verse. ❖ It is on the route of ECO Istanbul-Tehran-Almaty, Istanbul- Tehran-Islam Abad (ITI) trains ❖ It has four accepting and dispatching liners and it is under RC Signaling Cover ❖ Almost all of the covered, short-sided and flat wagons are running on these lines. ❖ The capacities of these lines are almost 120 wagons Measures are Taken in Razi Station to Facilitate Border-Crossing

➢ Customs organization has recently mandated that all customs affairs of the wagon should be in Razi border. ➢ The information of the B/L of wagons ready to be dispatched to Iran is sent to Razi station one day before and the information are announced to the shippers and their representatives. ➢ Recently Iranian Railways has provided two administrative buildings for Customs and also a building for Police for their staying in the station in order to help to expedite the works and procedures ➢ Negotiations and measures are taken to bring and deploy other organizations and institutes such as standard and Quarantine to expedite the issues. ➢ Information exchange through web service is under way. A meeting between the IT authorities of the two railways of Iran and Turkey will take place at the end of Feb. 2018 Rail Connection with Pakistan in Mirjaveh Border

➢ International Rail Transport between Iran and Pakistan has already been established. ➢ The amount of Cargo transit in Mirjaveh border has increased from 2109 tons in 2016 to more 7061 tons in 2017, which shows more than 230 percent increase ➢ The amount of import of cargo from Pakistan to Iran through this rail line has increased from 5997 tons in 2016 to more than 6278 tons in 2017, shows 5 percent growth. ➢ From April 2017 until November 2017 the amount of 17402 tons of cargo has been exported from Iran to Pakistan through this rail line which considering the amount of 8184 tons in 2016, it shows 113 percent growth. ➢ From April 2017 until November 2017, the number of 70 trains have travelled in railway between Iran and Pakistan in compare with 40 trains in 2016 Rail Connection with Afghanistan in Shamtigh Border

▪ Rail connection with Afghanistan - Construction of Sangan in Iran up to the border of Afghanistan namely Shamtiq has already finished and inaugurated. - From Afghanistan border up to Ghorian station in Herat station, 30 km in length is finished and ready to be operated. -The rest of the line up to Jeno is 30 km. The infrastructure is finished and superstructure is being started. - From Jino to Herat Airport it is 87 Kilometers and Construction of the fourth line of Angan-Herat, the Last section on this route will be started soon in Afghanistan. Completing Missing Links Connection with Azerbaijan in Astara Border

➢ Qazvin-Rasht section in Iran on the route towards Astara border with Azerbaijan has a 95% progress and will be inaugurated soon and construction of Rasht-Astara, co-financed by the government of Azerbajian and Iran will be started soon. ➢ The rail Bridge on the river between the border in Astara in Iran and Astara in Azerbaijan has finished. ➢ The rail connection of Astara in Iran and Astara in Azerbaijan will be open end of this week. ➢ The rail line of Astara in Azerbaijan until the Astara freight terminal in Iran 2.2 km has been constructed and it has bene agreed the loading and unloading platforms and also container site to be constructed and operated in this terminal. Plans in hand for completing Missing Links Accessibility

▪ Second connection to Turkey via Bazargan border (Middle West) ▪ Connection to Iraq via Basreh Border (south west) ▪ Another connection to Iraq via Khosravi border (Middle West). Plans in hand

Speed of delivery: ▪ decreasing transit freight train traveling time ▪ Prioritization of transit trains ▪ running time tabled transit trains ▪ reducing delays caused by loading or unloading of wagons. Decreasing cost: ✓ we haven't changed our tariffs since 8 years ago despite all economic fluctuations and high inflations; ✓ we have also offered substantial discounts to customers with the aim to build competitive advantage. Some of these discounts are as follows: ▪ Sulfur : 35 % ▪ Cotton and fertilizers: 30 % ▪ Mazut and other oil products :31 % ▪ All other transit goods: 15% Existing obstacles preventing smooth transport in international traffic

- Lack of uniformity of customs rules and regulations in transit routes

- Non-membership of the countries in international regulations/rules

- Lack of coordination in rules and non- observance from a country to another one

- Physical obstacles along rail transport between Europe and Asia: standard gauge of 1435 mm in the Railways of OTIF member states and broad gauge of 1520 mm in the Railways of CIS Countries Existing obstacles preventing smooth transport in international traffic • Break of gauge at the border points and insufficiency of bogie exchanging system • Non-completion of missing links along rail routes and corridors • Weak infrastructures along the routes • Diversity of fleet technical specifications in the region countries • Lengthy bogie exchange time at border points • Lack of enough budget to complete missing links, equip fleet and border terminals • Trains' long delays at borders due to customs procedures and different rules of the countries • Non competitiveness of rail tariffs compared to other modes of transport like road transport • Lack of joint companies among the countries for combined transport • Political issues and the consequences Ways to facilitate rail traffic: RAI Accessions to Int’l Organizations and Int’l Rules

- Accession of RAI to Railways Cooperation organization (OSJD) in 1998 and Agreement on Freight International Traffic by Railway (SMGS) in 2001 after inauguration of Mashad-Sarakhs rail line in 1996 to realize international transport and freight transit to Central Asian countries

- Accession of RAI to OTIF in 1986 and COTIF Convention and its 7 appendices in 2001. Asia-Europe Corridor

SMGS CIM

COTIF - Regulating Uniform rail law with the objective of preparing rail laws at global level and connection of European rail corridor routes to Asia by UNECE -Organization of several meetings with involvement of CIT, OTIF and OSJD - Study of the law in the Railways of Iran

Thanks you for your kind Attention