Investigating the Barriers to the Attractiveness of Rail Freight Transportation in Iran and Providing Solutions for Them

The development of rail transportation in a vast country like Iran is a crucial due to its potential role in reducing fuel consumption, environmental effects, causalities, and finally reducing the transportation costs, which is mainly caused by the road as the dominant transport sector in the country. Because of the importance of rail transport, it has been included as one of the pivotal issues in the sixth national development plan. According to the targets, the share of rail in goods transport must reach 30 percent, by the year 1404. Despite the advantages and potentials of rail transport, it is not sufficiently attractive for businesses, so that more than 90 percent of goods tonnage is carried by road. In this regard, the present study provides an overview of Iran's rail transport sector, analyzes the determining factors of rail freight transport attractiveness, identifies the major problems and challenges at macro level and at level of the selected goods categories, and finally devise solutions for them.