🇮🇷 Country
Train routes in Iran
7 routes · classic 2 · night train 4 · scenic 1
7 routes cross Iran in the World Train Map atlas. The longest is the Raja Tehran–Bandar Abbas at 1,286 km; the fastest is the Tehran–Mashhad Express, running up to 160 km/h; the oldest line dates to 1938. Every route links to its facts, photo and story, and to the interactive world map.
Open the world railway map →Classic (2)
- Raja Tehran–Isfahan
Links the capital to the old Safavid capital and its UNESCO-listed Naqsh-e Jahan Square, shadowing Iran’s still-unfinished first high-speed line.
- Northern Trans-Iranian
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.
Wikipedia ↗
Night train (4)
- Tehran–Mashhad Express
Iran’s busiest corridor: five-star Fadak sleepers glide 926 km east past desert caravanserai country to Imam Reza’s shrine city of Mashhad.
Wikipedia (FA) ↗ - Raja Tehran–Tabriz
Iranian leg of the Tehran–Istanbul Trans-Asia Express, whose onward run once floated the whole train across Turkey’s Lake Van on a rail ferry.
- Raja Tehran–Bandar Abbas
One of Iran’s longest single-train rides: ~1,290 km across the central desert past Yazd to the Strait of Hormuz, completed when the Bafq link opened in 1995.
- Tehran–Shiraz Night Train
Completed only in 2009, the overnight run leaves Tehran at dusk and descends at dawn past Marvdasht, the plain of Persepolis, into Shiraz.
Scenic (1)
- Trans-Iranian Railway
The UNESCO-listed 1938 masterpiece paid for by taxes on tea and sugar: night trains spiral down the Zagros through a maze of tunnels to the Gulf plain.
Wikipedia ↗
Photos via Wikimedia Commons — each route page credits the author & licence
What is the fastest train in Iran?
The Tehran–Mashhad Express, running Tehran to Mashhad at up to 160 km/h. It is one of 7 routes in Iran in this atlas.
Are there night trains in Iran?
Yes — 4 sleeper services in this atlas serve Iran: Tehran–Mashhad Express (Tehran – Mashhad), Raja Tehran–Tabriz (Tehran – Tabriz), Raja Tehran–Bandar Abbas (Tehran – Bandar Abbas), Tehran–Shiraz Night Train (Tehran – Shiraz).
Can you cross the border by train from Iran?
No route in this atlas crosses a land border out of Iran. Every line listed here begins and ends inside the country.
Which is the most scenic railway in Iran?
Iran has 1 scenic or mountain line in this atlas. The longest is the Trans-Iranian Railway, 937 km.