{"id":520910,"date":"2026-08-26T20:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T10:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=73792"},"modified":"2026-08-26T20:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T10:09:22","slug":"iran-to-build-railway-to-turkish-network-and-by-extension-to-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=520910","title":{"rendered":"Iran to build railway to Turkish network, and by extension to Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran is reportedly on the verge of signing contracts for a new railway to T\u00fcrkiye. The future line should open a new rail border crossing between the two countries. As a result, Iran\u2019s railway network will link up to the Turkish one.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Once completed, the new T\u00fcrkiye-Iran rail border crossing will not be the first one of its kind. The countries already share a border crossing, but the connected tracks do not link up with T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s broader rail network. Some form of intermodality, such as crossing Lake Van<\/a>, is necessary.<\/p>\n

The envisaged 324-kilometre Khavaran\u2013Tabriz\u2013Marand\u2013Cheshmeh Soraya railway should change that. If the project goes ahead, Iran will build a new rail connection to T\u00fcrkiye in the country\u2019s north. It certainly looks like construction will start, with the CEO of Iranian Railways saying that the company will sign the associated contracts \u201csoon\u201d, according to the Iranian Tasnim News Agency. After the signing, construction is expected to start within six months.<\/p>\n

T\u00fcrkiye is also building<\/h2>\n

On the other side of the border, in T\u00fcrkiye, construction on a railway towards the border is already ongoing. The primary objective here is not to reach Iran, but rather the Azerbaijani exclave Nakhchivan. However, in order to connect to the future Iranian border crossing of Cheshmeh Soraya, T\u00fcrkiye would only need to build around two kilometres of extra tracks.<\/p>\n

From there, trains from Iran could drive to Kars, T\u00fcrkiye, and theoretically reach Europe from there. They could also enter Georgia along the recently renovated BTK railway.<\/p>\n

Iran also has a railway leading to the Azerbaijani region Nakhchivan, from where it could also reach T\u00fcrkiye. However, Azerbaijan and Iran have a poor political relationship. Iran could see this as a good reason to build its own railway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran is reportedly on the verge of signing contracts for a new railway to T\u00fcrkiye. The future line should open a new rail border crossing\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10863,343,790,471,78,47,71,8804],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-520910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-europe","category-infrastructure","category-iran","category-news","category-rail-freight","category-rail-news","category-turkey","category-turkiye","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t