| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The idea of constructing the Transiranian Railway appeared for the first time in the end of the nineteenth century. Until the 1920s it was widely discussed by diplomats from different powerful countries (like Great Britain and Russia) who perceived it as an occasion to enlarge their countries' sphere of influence. However, it was the Iranian government itself, led by the Iranian Shah, that managed to complete the project. The Transiranian Railway connected the Caspian Sea shore with the Persian Gulf and is considered one of the greatest engineering achievements of the 1930s. This paper presents the main aspects of the history of the Transiranian Railway - from the nineteenth century's debates around the concept of such a connection, through the process of the line's construction during Reza Shah's reign, until the post-war period of railway development in Iran. To the historical part comments are added on some aspects of the social, economic and political consequences of the construction of the railway.
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