Written by Mike Hayes - 11 Feb 2016 from International Construction

A memorandum of understanding has been signed by the governments of Italy and Iran, regarding Iran’s planned 10,000 km railways development.

The agreement covers some US$ 5.6 billion of work to be carried out by Italy’s state-owned rail company, Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), for its counterpart in Iran, Iranian Islamic Republic Railways (RAI).

It is likely that FS will work on the high-speed rail line between Tehran, Qom and Isfahan.

FS’s certification arm, Italcertifier is working on the design of a test centre for infrastructure and rolling stock, while the company’s engineering arm, Italferr, is a preferred bidder for the contract to work on the construction of a metro in Mashhad, in the north-east of Iran.

The agreement sees FS and RAI resuming commercial relations for the first time since 2006, when the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran.

Abbas Akhoundi, Iran’s minister of transport, who signed the agreement with Graziano Delrio, Italy’s minister of infrastructure, said talks had also been held with China and “some European countries” and he was hopeful they would “yield positive results.”