TEHRAN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Iraq held a groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday for a joint railway project near the common border in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.
The event marks the start of construction of a railway that would span 32 km between Shalamcheh city in the Iranian province and the port of Basra in southern Iraq, said the report.
Iran and Iraq would respectively construct 16 km, half the rail's length, on their territories, and the rail was expected to be ready for use in 18 months, according to IRNA.
Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani attended the ceremony, along with other officials from both sides, said the report.
In his address to the ceremony, al-Sudani said the railway would help facilitate the transfer of passengers from Iran and Central Asian states to Iraqi religious sites and develop Iraq's economic infrastructure.
As part of the project, Iran would build a moveable bridge on the Shatt al-Arab river, known as Arvand Rud in Iran, whose southern end constitutes the Iran-Iraq border, Iranian Roads and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash was quoted by IRNA as saying.
Upon completion, the railway would carry freight and passenger trains to promote trade and reduce traveling expenses between the two countries.
