Trans-Iranian Railway

A railway crossing Iran from the Caspian Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. Completed in 1938, it connected Bandar Shah, now Bandar Torkaman, with Bandar Shahpur, now Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni.

Railway electrification: The use of electrical power to propel trains through overhead wires or electrified rails. The railway was built as a steam-operated line, making its original power system a useful contrast.
Reza Shah: Iran’s monarch from 1925 to 1941, who established the Pahlavi dynasty and pursued centralized modernization. He made the railway a flagship project of his government’s modernization program.
Ladislaus von Rabcewicz: An Austrian engineer known for his work on tunnel construction and rock mechanics. He contributed engineering expertise to the railway’s difficult mountain works.
Persian Corridor: An Allied supply route through Iran used to transport aid to the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The railway carried a substantial share of Allied supplies moving north through Iran.
Zagros Mountains: A mountain range stretching across western Iran and parts of Iraq and Turkey. The railway’s southern route crosses this rugged range through bridges, tunnels and steep gradients.
Pahlavi dynasty: The Iranian royal dynasty founded by Reza Shah and ended by the 1979 revolution. The railway was planned and built during the dynasty’s first decade in power.
Julius Berger: A German civil engineering company founded by Julius Berger in 1890. The company was among the foreign contractors involved in building the railway.
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: The 1941 Allied occupation of Iran by British and Soviet forces during the Second World War. The occupation secured the railway and its connections for Allied wartime supply.
Alborz Mountains: A mountain range in northern Iran separating the Caspian coastal region from the central plateau. The northern approach must descend from the Alborz toward the Caspian shore.
Iranian Constitutional Revolution: The 1905–1911 movement that established constitutional government in Iran. Its debates over foreign influence and state authority formed part of the political background to railway finance.

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