TEHRAN – “Upon satisfying the finances required for construction of East-West Corridor, Arak-Kermanshah-Khosravi railroad route, the project would see an end by 2012,” contractor of railroad development plans Hossein Tehrani told the Persian service of ISNA on Tuesday.

The total length of the corridor will be 570 kilometers and Arak-Kermanshah and Kermanshah-Khosravi comprise 270 and 300 of it respectively. So far, 40 kilometers of construction from Kermanshah towards Arak is completed and Arak to Malayer has experienced partial progress, Tehrani stated.

“Total of 120 billion rials is allocated for the project this year, however, we have asked for 700 billion rials more to be able to fulfill our obligations for the coming year,” he said, adding that the total projected cost stands at 3500-4000 billion rials. “Moreover, timely budget allocation for the planned work intervals, may allow us to finish Arak-Kermanshah section by 2009,” he stipulated further.

A loan request of 34 million dollars from IDB (Islamic Development Bank) is being reviewed by the Majlis’s Economic Council and the proposal to use FRF financing for Kermanshah-Khosravi route is also on the table, he noted.

It is noteworthy to mention that fuel conservation in railroad transportation of any nature is one-sixth of road transport for a given distance. Nonetheless, this saving would not seem too tangible as long as the fuel prices are subsidized by the government.