ON SEPTEMBER 12 Austrian trade minister Dr Bartenstein and his Iranian counterpart Dr Schafei attended a contract signing ceremony for the supply of 20 inter-city diesel trainsets for Iranian Islamic Republic Railways. The four-car units will be supplied by Siemens Austria under a deal worth Sch1·37bn, which was signed by RAI Director-General Dr Rahman Dadman and Siemens Austria General Manager Dipl-Ing Albert Hochleitner.
The trains are due to enter service between Tehran and Mashad in 2003. The first five units will be assembled in Austria by Siemens SGP, and the remaining 15 will be supplied as kits for local assembly by SGP’s long-standing Iranian partner Wagon Pars. Austrian content will account for around 70% of the contract value. The diesel-hydraulic units will be powered by Cummins engines.
