The main tasks falling to FS Group under the MOU are to source both high-speed and conventional rolling stock to the Iranian party, as well as to provide training for railway staff and a test centre.

Iranian Railway (RAI) has chosen to draw on Italian expertise in high speed rail to build high speed lines Tehran -Hamadan and Arak - Qom. The total export credit value for rail projects in Iran could reach 5 billion euros.

The agreement confirms FS Group as leading in developing Iran's rail network, and covers the creation, planning, building and commissioning of high speed lines from Teheran - Hamadan and Arak - Qom.

Italcertifer will also be involved in preliminary planning of the Iranian Railways Test Centre, which will be equipped with the latest technology for testing both infrastructure and rolling stock.

Under the agreement, signed in Tehran, FS Group will assist RAI in sourcing rolling stock in Italy for both high-speed and conventional services, and will also supply a full training programme for Iranian railway staff.

Italferr, FS Group's in-house engineering branch, has also won a contract to supply RAI with technical assistance on the planned Tehran -Qom - Isfahan high-speed line of approximately 400 kilometers long.

All the cooperative ventures set forth in the MOU will be funded via export credits. The Italian export credit agency, SACE, and Italian investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) have already released separate letters inviting expressions of general interest in the Iranian rail projects.

Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaie already met with Renato Mazzoncini in Italy on 15 December last year, visiting a number of FS Group's flagship locations and testing the "Frecciarossa 1000" high speed train.