Iran train

Trains in Iran have a rocky history. The first successfully built railway was from Rasht city to Bandar e Anzali in 1848. From there multiple routs with different contractors started their mission in building this long-time dream of the country. But it was in the time of Reza shah (the first shah of Pahlavi dynasty) that the first talks of a national railing system were heard and in 1935 the first line (from the north east to the south west of Iran) started working. After that many lines were constructed and are still being worked on with many small and big cities and regions in their way.

in the gallery below you can see many different views of Iran train routes with breathtaking sceneries.

Main train routes

The most used routes are divided into two sections. The first is are the popular trade routes and heavy transportations and the second which is the one important for us is the routes mostly used by the people. Some of these railways are obvious. Routes like Tehran – Mashhad, Tehran – Qom, Rasht – Gorgan, Esfahan – Shiraz, Tehran – Bandar-e Abbas and etc. connects big cities to each other and have the most trip counts in the year. As you can see most of these have Tehran Capital as a start or an end and the whole railway system is built to connect Tehran to other populated cities with stops on smaller towns in the middle. There are about 400 stations working in Iran connecting about 20 major cities in the country. Some of the most beautiful routes in Iran’s railway is mentioned bellow:

Andimeshk – Dorud route

This route (mentioned in the LONELY PLANET) is a part of the TRANS IRANIAN RAILWAY that joined the UNESCO sites of Iran in 2021. It is known to be one of the unique paths of traveling by train in Iran.

Tehran – Sari railway

A lot of little and big tunnels form this beautiful way. One of the most famous rail bridges in Iran is built in this route. It was called the bridge of victory during World War 2. Veresk Bridge is a stunning piece of engineering located right in the middle of the way, also the longest railway tunnel in Iran (Gadook tunnel) is also in this route.

Tehran – Garmsar route

A change of scenery in the vast railway of Iran. This train mostly crosses desert in its way and you can enjoy beautiful reals and domains via this route on the way.

Regional Trains routes

Most main cities of Iran have a lot of small towns and villages surrounding them. Many people work in big cities like Tehran but live on the outskirts of the city itself. Soon, these types of routes were built and most of them get used as commuter trains. But they don’t sum up to just a commuter train. Many of these routes have magnificent sceneries on the way. One of the most famous train lines in Iran is a suburban railway (Andimeshk – Dorud) in the south of Iran.

Nearly all of the trains working on these routes are without compartments, as most of them cover a short distance. Bus-like seats cover the whole train and, in some cases, they are Double-decker too (Tehran – Parand route).

Train from Tehran to Mashhad

There are many trains on this route and every day more than twenty trains depart from different cities to Mashhad. The trains on the Mashhad route are very diverse and consist of high-speed trains and luxury trains. Some trains have beds and restaurants and have very good catering services.

Touristic Train