Iran has completed rail-laying on the Chabahar-Iranshahr section of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway and is targeting commissioning of the strategic line by January 2027, according to Iranian officials. This will potentially strengthen India’s connectivity with Afghanistan and Central Asia through the Iranian port of Chabahar.

The development was announced by Sistan and Baluchestan Governor Mansour Bijar during Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Farzaneh Sadegh’s visit to the project last week. I

India’s role at Chabahar remains clouded by US sanctions, which took effect after the conditional waiver granted to India expired in April 2026.

“Rail laying on the Chabahar-Iranshahr route has been completed, and the rail connection of this area has been made. Rail-laying operations in the Chabahar port area have also been carried out, and the project has now entered the stage of completing operations and preparing for operation,” Bijar announced last week-end at an event reported by local media.

Iranian authorities have prepared a schedule to put the project into operation by the end of Dey, which falls in late January 2027.

The Chabahar-Zahedan project has a direct length of 630 km and extends to 735 km when branch lines are included, per the Iranian government. It has 33 stations, 39 tunnels and 201 bridges and is designed to carry about 7.7 million tonnes of freight and 2.2 million passengers annually, according to Iranian officials.

For India, the railway is significant because Chabahar provides an alternative route to the landlocked markets of Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan. Once connected to Iran’s national rail network, cargo arriving at Chabahar can move northwards by rail towards Zahedan and onward to other parts of Iran and Central Asia.

Indian officials have long viewed Chabahar as an important component of India’s connectivity strategy with Afghanistan and Central Asia. India has been involved in the development and operation of the Shahid-Behesti terminal at Chabahar and signed a 10-year contract in May 2024 for India Ports Global Ltd to operate the terminal.

However, India is not running the Shahid-Behesti terminal anymore with indications that it has handed over operations to the Iranian side till the situation normalises, according to a source.

The railway also has significance for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which seeks to connect India with Iran, Central Asia, Russia and Europe through a multimodal transport network.

Iranian officials have described the Chabahar-Zahedan link as part of the country’s wider effort to develop east-west and north-south transit corridors. Iran’s transport ministry has said the railway will connect Chabahar’s Indian Ocean gateway with the national rail network, giving eastern Iran and Central Asian markets access to international waters.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

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