Classic route
Northern Trans-Iranian
Tehran → Gorgan · Iran
The Trans-Iranian’s UNESCO-listed northern arm: night sleepers spiral down the Alborz over the Veresk bridge, from Tehran’s desert rim to the Caspian plain.
How this line was checked
- The 202 km this route shares with OpenStreetMap relation 19980330 is drawn from that relation's own nodes, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 16 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: RAJA Passenger Trains — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Northern Trans-Iranian?
The Northern Trans-Iranian runs 495 km from Tehran to Gorgan.
How long does the Northern Trans-Iranian take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ~11 h for the 495 km. That is an average of 45 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 100 km/h.
Who runs the Northern Trans-Iranian?
Raja and Iranian Railways (RAI), with Raja sleeper & couchette cars.
How old is the Northern Trans-Iranian?
The line has been in service since 1938. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
More classic routes
- LNER Azuma
The Flying Scotsman’s route since 1862: and where Mallard set the never-beaten steam record of 203 km/h in 1938.
Wikipedia ↗ - Alfa Pendular
A tilting Pendolino leaning through the curves of the 19th-century Linha do Norte between Portugal’s two great cities.
Wikipedia ↗ - EIP Pendolino
Rides Poland’s 1970s Central Main Line (CMK), engineered decades ahead of its time and now being upgraded to 250 km/h.
Wikipedia ↗ - Railjet
Follows the old Orient Express alignment down the Danube plain: centre to centre faster than any flight.
Wikipedia ↗
More train routes in Iran.