TEHRAN (Dispatches) - China’s CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Rail Transport on Wednesday signed a contract with Iran’s IDRO Group to supply 450 metro cars for the Iranian cities of Ahvaz, Tabriz and Shiraz.
The company, a subsidiary of China’s railway giant CRRC Corps, undertook to provide funds up to 85% of the project as well as parts for assembly at Iranian train manufacturing company Wagon Pars, IDRO Managing Director Mansour Moazzami said.
"In order to make maximum use of domestic capabilities in the field of rolling stock manufacturing, the contracting party was required to cooperate with the Wagon Pars company of Arak,” he said.
"Hence, the production and supply of wagons needed compatible with world-class technology will be carried out for the first time at Wagon Pars in partnership with a foreign company with an investment of 25 million euros,” Moazzami added.
Another Chinese company signed a deal with Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development to build a railway between the cities of Shiraz and Bushehr in the country's south with $700 million of investment.
The Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) has signed a $1.5 billion deal to finance the electrification of a high-speed rail line being built by Chinese companies between the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad.
The Swiss embassy in Tehran said Stadler would put the wagons in service from the end of 2020 in the Iranian capital and its western suburb of Karaj.
However, news and information platform Swissinfo said on Friday the company had denied the report, saying that there was no deal or decision but merely a public tender.
Iran has announced plans to invest $25 billion over the next 10 years in the modernization and expansion of its railway network. Under the plan, Iran seeks to stretch out the nationwide railroad line to 25,000 kilometers by 2025 from under 15,000 kilometers now.
Moazzami said negotiations have been held on supply of 5,000 metro cars worth more than 6 billion euros, most of which have been finalized and will gradually be announced.
In July 2017, Iran’s state rail company and its Italian counterpart signed a final agreement worth 1.2 billion euros ($1.37 billion) to build a high-speed railway between the cities of Qom and Arak.
Later that month, French transport company Alstom signed a joint agreement for the construction of subway carriages in Iran.