Iran

Trans-Iranian Railway

WHS Score 2.05
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Votes 12 Average 2.42
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Votes for Trans-Iranian Railway

0.5

  • Alexander Parsons
  • Solivagant
  • Zoë Sheng

1.0

  • George Gdanski
  • Wojciech Fedoruk

1.5

  • Stanislaw Warwas

3.0

  • BaziFettehenne
  • Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero

4.0

  • Afshin Iranpour
  • Atila Ege

5.0

  • Bardia
  • Fmaiolo@yahoo.com

The Trans-Iranian Railway is a 1,394 km long work of transportation infrastructure that connects the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea.

The railway was completed in 1938 as a prestige modernization project by the newly established Pahlavi state of Iran. Many bridges and tunnels had to be constructed to overcome hills and gorges; they were built in a mixed Iranian-Western architectural style.

Community Perspective: It’s hard to discern what you need to go and look at, as it seems to be made up of the connection of “specific bits here and there”. Its lack of OUV has gathered a long string of comments at the Forum – you might want to read up on that before you visit.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Trans-Iranian Railway (ID: 1585)
Country
Iran
Status
Inscribed 2021 Site history
History of Trans-Iranian Railway
2019: Incomplete - not examined
2021: Advisory Body overruled
ICOMOS advised Deferral
2021: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • ii
  • iv
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
  • google.com — Article on Railways in Iran – Part 2 – 1910 to 1945
News Article
  • Aug. 15, 2021 edition.cnn.com — The story behind the Trans-Iranian Railway, one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Human activity: Transport and Trade
Travel Information
Red Zone Travel Advisory
Red Zone Travel Advisory
Iran fully off-limits
Shush Hotspot
Shush Hotspot
Has a station at Susa
Teheran Hotspot
Teheran Hotspot
Zone 3 of the railway crosses Garmsar, 121km/2h from Teheran
Recent Connections
View all (14) .
Connections of Trans-Iranian Railway
Geography
History
  • Second World War
    The line was used to supply USSR and control of it was one of the reasons for the by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941.
Damaged
  • Damaged in War since WWII
    Iran-Iraq war "Taleh Zang bridge is in this route in Dorud- Andimesk road which is one of the famous railway structures of Iran. It was damaged several times during the Holy Defense."

    See www.google.com

Human Activity
  • Sea Ports
    New ports were built at Bandar Shah (now Bandar Torkaman) and Bandar Shapiro (now Bandar-e Khomeini) as part of the construction.
Constructions
Timeline
WHS Hotspots
Visiting conditions
News
edition.cnn.com 08/15/2021
The story behind the Trans-Iranian…

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 09/02/19.

Zoë Sheng

Trans-Iranian Railway

Trans-Iranian Railway (Inscribed)

Trans-Iranian Railway by Zoë Sheng

What does it take for a railway to become heritage? Is it the history, the track building, the engineering, the trains? Italy/Switzerland is the best and arguably the most loved place to enjoy engineering master class with the Bernina Express and Austria has a similar line. The Indian train tracks I wasn't equally impressed with but again they feature the tracks. For Iran I will assume, the famous architecture they mention in the documents is about specific bits here and there that combine into the Trans-Iran railway.

So what does it take to view the “site”? Tehran Railway Station is surely not the place to admire it. I picked a few spots on the way but I wasn't convinced with the inscription attempt. A bridge up in the mountain is impressive, sure, but not unique, and adding many bits together still doesn't make it an attraction.

I didn't ride on the tracks, maybe that helps, but I think it wouldn't give me a better view. Given that I would need to figure out how to ride it, where to ride it to, not knowing which places are the best, and invest at least a day to ride it back and forth made me decide against it, at least not before the exact spots have been defined for an inscription.

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