Central Asian rail route cuts China – Iran transit time to 17 days

The head of the Sarakhs Special Economic Zone in northeastern Iran announced on Wednesday that the Central Asian rail corridor has substantially reduced transit times for goods transported between China and Iran.

“Shipping time by sea between China and Iran is between 30 to 45 days, while the rail route from China to Sarakhs in Khorasan Razavi via Central Asia has reduced this time to 17 days,” Mohammadreza Rajabi Moqaddam told the 11th International Conference on Industries and Systems (ICISE) at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, IRNA reported.

He said a new rail line under construction from Kashgar in western China to Osh in eastern Kyrgyzstan by Chinese engineers will further cut rail transit time between China and Iran (Sarakhs) to seven days once completed.
“Also, if the Sarakhs rail line is connected to Cheshmeh-Soraya in West Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran and then to Turkey, the east-west rail corridor from China to Europe will be complete,” he added.

Rajabi Moqaddam emphasized the importance of logistics and transportation for economic development. “The backbone of the economy is transportation and logistics, which in the Sarakhs region is fully provided across rail, road, air, and combined infrastructure,” he said.

He described Sarakhs as a crossroads for global transit linking east-west and north-south corridors. He noted that the east-west and north-south corridors are being completed under the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, and expressed hope that by next year the Chabahar rail line via Zahedan to Kerman will be operational, connecting the north-south corridor from Sarakhs to Chabahar in the southeast.

The 11th International Conference on Industries and Systems is being held Wednesday and Thursday at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.