First Nakhchivan train enters Mashhad

TEHRAN, Dec. 31 (MNA) – First passenger train from the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan arrived in Mashhad on Friday evening. Iran opened a direct passenger train route between its Northeastern city of Mashhad and Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic as an effort to provide the landlocked enclave with a wide access to Iran’s national rail network. The service was launched during a ceremony attended by head of the 10th Iran-Azerbaijan joint economic commission Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran’s Minister of IT and Communications and Mr. Shahim Mustafayev, Azeri Minister of Economic Development. Iran’s Vaez said that Mashhad-Nakhchivan train will be able to lead to promotion of bilateral relations, tourism ties in particular, between the two sides. Vaezi stressed that Tehran was determined to boost ties with Baku in all areas, underscoring that the new train service between the two countries was a significant step towards the same objective. The train from Nakhchivan will travel to Iran’s Northwestern city of Tabriz through Jolfa and thereon to Tehran and finally Mashhad on Sundays and Thursday. The price of the ticket for a one-way trip from Nakhchivan to Mashhad (1,858 kilometers) will be 40 Swiss francs (about $38). The tickets can be purchased online both in Azerbaijan and Iran. It had been earlier reported by Azerbaijan’s media that the country had provided Iran with three railway carriages for Nakhchivan-Mashhad passenger train service. Furthermore, reports also said that the train to Mashhad would operate under the supervision of Azerbaijan Railways. Accordingly, the Azerbaijani company had announced that it was after opening bureaus in Iran after the launch of the train service from Nakhchivan to Mashhad. The primary deal for Nakhchivan-Tabriz-Mashhad railroad project had been inked between Iran and Azerbaijan Republic in February, 2016.