Iran plans to use the Turkmen rail car fleet in transportation of cement to Central Asia
Iran intends to use freight cars owned by Turkmenistan for the transportation of export cement to Central Asia and in particular to Uzbekistan, Iranian media reported, citing the official representative of the "Islamic Republic of Iran Railways". “Based on bilateral discussions we had at Sarakhs (Khorasan Razavi Province) with Turkmenistan’s railroad officials, we reached an agreement to use their high-sided wagons to export cement,” said Shahram Jafari, IRIR’s Director General of the IRIR for international operations. According to the proposed scheme, the cars carrying sulfur from Turkmenistan to/via Iran on the way back can be loaded with cement produced in the north-east of Iran, and delivered to Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan's demand for cement in the next few years will amount to 1-1.5 million tons per year. Rail freight between Iran and Turkmenistan are carried out through two border crossings – Serakhs-Sarakhs and Akayla – Inche Boron. In total, in 2017, 1.97 million tons of cargo were transported by rail through the Sarakhs station, which provides the shortest access to the port of Bandar Abbas.
