FS Italiane in Teheran: cooperation with Iranian railways for the construction of High-Speed railway lines
Rome, 9 February 2016
The Iranian railways have chosen the Italian high-speed excellence for the construction of their High-Speed railway lines Teheran - Hamadan and Arak - Qom.
Search for new rolling stock in Italy both for high-speed and conventional lines, training of railway personnel and setting up of a test centre: these are the main commitments in Iran of Gruppo FS Italiane owing to the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed today in Teheran by Deputy Transport Minister and President of RAI (Iranian Railways) Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaie and by FS chief executive Renato Mazzoncini.
The total value of the export credit operation for the railway projects in Iran is of up to 5 billion Euros.
With today’s agreement Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane is on the front line for the development of the Iranian railway network being involved in the realization, design, construction and commissioning of the high-speed lines Teheran - Hamadan and Arak - Qom.
Moreover, Italcertifer is in charge of the preliminary planning of the Iranian Railways Test Centre that will thus be provided with cutting-edge technology for testing both the infrastructure and the rolling stock.
Owing to the agreement signed today in Teheran, Gruppo FS Italiane will provide assistance to the Iranian railways by searching for rolling stock in Italy both for high-speed and conventional lines, and it will organize a complete training programme for Iranian railways’ personnel.
Under a technical assistance contract, Italferr - Gruppo FS Italiane’s engineering company - will provide its services to RAI for the 400 km high-speed project Teheran-Qom-Isfahan.
According to plans, Iran’s 10,000 km railway infrastructure will reach 25,000 kilometres by year 2025, of which 7,500 kilometres are already under construction.
The cooperation commitments provided for by the MOU will benefit from an export credit financing. Sace and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) have already sent two separate letters for bids for railway projects in Iran.
On 15 December 2015, Deputy Transport Minister and President of RAI (Iranian Railways) Aghaei met FS Italiane chief executive Renato Mazzoncini in Italy, visiting the main structures of Gruppo FS Italiane and testing Frecciarossa 1000.