MAPNA Group has signed an agreement with the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company, affiliated to the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, to construct the 500-km Ahwaz-Isfahan electric railway.
The agreement was endorsed by Road Minister Mohammad Eslami and delivered to MAPNA Group on July 19, 2021.
As per the deal, a consortium comprising MAPNA Group, MAPNA International F.Z.E and MAPNA Railway Construction & Development Company will construct the double-track railway under an EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) scheme.
Linking Ahwaz, center of the southwestern Khuzestan Province, and the central city of Isfahan, the railway will mainly run through mountainous regions.
The project will include more than 80km of tunnels and 15km of long bridges. The double-track railway will be equipped with the latest signaling, telecommunications, and power supply systems and overhead power grid.
The project will be financed by both foreign investors and domestic industries benefiting from the megaproject.
Once operational, the railway will lighten the cargo (around 40%) and passenger (around 50%) loads of Ahwaz-Isfahan road by nearly half, increasing safety rate and reducing traffic accidents and pollution along the route.