Iran’s Transport Minister, Farzaneh Sadegh, announced today that the government is poised to finalise a contract with a Chinese investor for a high-season rail project connecting Tehran and Mashhad, the country’s second-largest city. The signing is expected to take place during President Masoud Pezeshkian’s forthcoming visit to Beijing.

The initiative aims to reduce travel time on this 900-kilometre route, which serves tens of millions of pilgrims annually, although specific figures were not disclosed.

During a Razavi Khorasan Province Planning Council meeting, Minister Sadegh highlighted that passenger train travel on the Tehran–Mashhad line is projected to decrease by approximately 45 minutes.
She further stated that the Chinese side has expressed clear interest in the project and that all requisite approvals from Iran’s Economic Council have been secured.

Earlier reporting in July 2025 detailed a parallel rail infrastructure development, wherein Iran awarded a Chinese company a contract to electrify 1,000 kilometres of its east-west rail line—from Sarakhs to the Razi border—with plans for double tracking in some sections. That project is designed to triple freight transport capacity on the corridor to 15 million metric tons per year.