The performance of Iran's rail transport industry over the past 25 years shows that the development of the railway has not been uniform. The network has expanded, and the number of wagons and infrastructure capacities have increased, but this development has not always led to a proportional increase in performance. In 2001, approximately 26.4 million tons of freight were transported with a performance of 14.6 billion ton-kilometers on the rail network. The number of passengers was also about 13.1 million, with passenger performance close to 8 billion passenger-kilometers.
Growth and Challenges of Freight Performance
By 2020, freight performance reached about 36 billion ton-kilometers, marking the highest level of this period. However, after 2020, the network could not sustainably maintain this level of performance. UIC data for 2022, roughly corresponding to 1401, indicates about 30.2 billion ton-kilometers of freight, and performance reports for 1404 also suggest a figure in the range of 30 billion ton-kilometers. In the passenger sector, passenger-kilometers increased from about 8 billion at the beginning of the period to nearly 17.9 billion in 2011, but fell to around 5.2 billion during the pandemic and then revived in subsequent years.
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Productivity Challenges and Future Goals
The main question of this report is whether the current limitations of the railway are due to a lack of demand or if a more significant part of the issue lies in operational capacity, fleet productivity, commercial speed, and wagon turnover. The goals set for the seventh program include a 30% share of rail transport in domestic land freight ton-kilometers, a 25% share of rail in ports, and at least a 70% increase in commercial freight speed. The gap between the current situation and these goals is such that it will not be filled by simply continuing the past trends.
The preliminary result of this study is clear. Iran's railway today faces more challenges in converting potential market capacity into actual transport than in lacking a market. This highlights the necessity of focusing on productivity and efficiency in the rail industry. Therefore, the main focus of the report shifts from merely expanding the network to enhancing productivity.
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