Rail transport in Iran

Railway of Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran railway 2011
Operation
National railway	Rahahan-e Jomhori-e Eslami-e Iran
Major operators	RAI, Tooka rail, Samand rail,
Statistics
Ridership	21 million
Passenger km	13 billion
Freight	31 million tonnes
System length
Total	12,998 kilometres (8,077 mi)
Double track	1426 km
Electrified	146 km
Track gauge
Main	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification
Main	25 kV 50 Hz AC
Features
No. tunnels	105
Tunnel length	120 m
Longest tunnel	3000
No. bridges	350
Longest bridge	750 m
No. stations	360
Highest elevation	2500 m
Lowest elevation	-20 m

The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (abbreviated IRIR or sometimes RAI) (Persian: شركت راه‌آهن جمهوری اسلامی ایران) is the national state-owned railway system of Iran. The Raja Passenger Train Company is an associate of the IR, and manages its passenger trains including international trains between Tehran and Istanbul and Tehran and Damascus. The Railway Transportation Company is an associate of the IR to manage its freight transport. The Iranian Ministry of Roads and Transportation is the state agency that oversees the IRIR. Some 33 million tons of goods and 29 million passengers are transported annually by the rail transportation network, accounting for 9 percent and 11 percent of the whole transportations in Iran (2011).

In 1887, during the time of Nasser-al-Din Shah, an 8.7 km Metre Gauge horse-driven suburban railway was established south of Tehran, that was later converted to steam. This line was closed in 1952.

The Tabriz–Jolfa line (146 km) was built in 1914, the Sufiyan–Sharaf Khaneh (53 km) in 1916, and the Mirjaveh–Zahedan (93 km) in 1920.

The 1,392 km (865 mi) long Trans-Iranian Railway from Bandar Torkaman on the Caspian Sea to Bandar Shahpur on the Persian Gulf was opened during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1939. The railroad was built with rail weighing 33 kilograms per metre (67 lb/yd) and required more than 3000 bridges. There were 126 tunnels in the Zagros mountains, the longest being 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi). Grades averaged 1.5 percent south of Tehran, but then increased to 2.8 percent to cross the 2,220-metre (7,270 ft) pass between Tehran and the Caspian Sea. After the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, this Persian Corridor became one of the supply routes for war material for the Soviet Union during World War II, (Railway trend in Iran). The British built a 121-kilometre (75 mi) branch line from the 2,953-foot (900 m) bridge over the Karun River in Ahwaz to a new southern port at Khorramshahr on the Shatt al-Arab river. In 1943 3,473 American soldiers of the Military Railway Service began running trains between the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea using ALCO RS-1 locomotives rebuilt with 3-axle trucks and designated RSD-1. The Americans set up headquarters in Ahwaz, but were unable to tolerate the daytime heat, and generally operated the railway at night.