Today in History 13 May

Simultaneous with the first anniversary of the inauguration of Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railroad, a passenger train service between Mashhad and Ashkhabad will become operational on May 14, said the manager of Khorasan Railway Company, Majid Roshdi, on Sunday. He added that some 2.500 million tons of cargo are to be imported to Iran via Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railroad from central Asian states. The goods include cotton, lumber, iron wares, asbestos pipes, gasoline and furnace oil, he said. Last year, he added, 200,000 tons of commodities were imported to Iran from central Asian states by train, of which 140,000 tons were carried to Bandar Abbas and 60,000 tons to Mashhad./-
TURKMENISTAN President S Niyazov has set up an international project group to push ahead with development of two corridors linking the Central Asian states and the Persian Gulf. His intention is to make Turkmenistan the centre of the region's rail network.
The north-south corridor will integrate the Tedjen -- Sarakhs line to Iran, completed two years ago, with the planned 450 km link from Turkmenbashi to Yeralivo in Kazakhstan (RG 11.97 p725). The east-west corridor uses a train ferry to link the ex-SZD route from Toshkent to Turkmenbashi via Ashgabat with the trans-Caucasian corridor between Baku and Poti.
Completion of Iranian Islamic Republic Railways' direct route from Mashhad to Bafgh, linking into the line to the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas, which is expected to generate up to 15 million tonnes a year. The Sarakhs transfer station handled 500,000 tonnes of freight in its first year, and is currently transhipping 130 wagonloads a day. Construction of a new bogie exchange installation and container terminal are expected to boost throughput to 2 million tonnes in 2000, and eventually to 7 million.