MAPNA Signs MoU for Construction of Ahwaz-Isfahan Electric Railway

MAPNA Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development to construct the 510-km Ahwaz-Isfahan electric railway.
Linking Ahwaz, center of the southwestern Khuzestan Province, and the central city of Isfahan, the railway will mainly run through mountainous regions. 
The MoU was signed between MAPNA President Abbas Aliabadi and Kheirollah Khademi, CEO of Construction & Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company.
Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami also undersigned the MoU.
MAPNA will construct the railway under an EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) scheme. The company will also be responsible for financing the project.
The flagship project is estimated to be worth 3 billion euros. 
Once complete, the railway is expected to lighten the cargo and passenger loads of Ahwaz-Isfahan road by nearly half, increasing safety rate and reducing traffic accidents and pollution along the route.
The steel industry of Khuzestan Province will also be a main beneficiary of the rail route, receiving a cheaper and faster supply of iron ore from central Iran.