A deal specifically concerns the electrification of Tehran-Mashhad railroad. Accordingly, the German company will provide the signaling equipment, the electric locomotives, passenger train coaches as well as the related maintenance services for the railroad, IRNA reported on Friday.
A second deal concerns the construction of Tehran-Isfahan high-speed railway and a third the provision of 500 passenger train coaches.
Siemens has also agreed to provide training for the railway sector of Iran.
The German engineering powerhouse will in most of its projects be obliged to team up with Iranian companies. This will be meant to transfer know-how to the Iranian companies.
Iran’s Minister of Industries, Mines and Trade Mohammadreza Netmatzadeh said last May that the country wants to splurge up to $8 billion over the next six years to revamp and expand its railway network.
Netmatzadeh said there are plans to stretch out the nationwide railroad line to 25,000 kilometers by 2025 from under 15,000 kilometers now. He added that there was need for $1.5 billion of annual investment in the next six years as part of the country’s vision plan.
Last October, Iran signed an agreement with Russia worth €1.2 billion to electrify a train line, linking north-central Iran to the northeastern border with Turkmenistan.
The agreement signed between Russian Railways and the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways envisages constructing power stations and overhead power lines along the Garmsar-Sari-Gorgan-Inche Burun route in Iran.
Officials said at the time that the project will be financed by the Russian government and will be implemented in 36 months, which includes manufacturing all electric locomotives inside Iran, electrifying 495 kilometers of railway and building 32 stations and 95 tunnels.
