Published in the IRJ: A deep dive into the current and future state of the Iranian railway network
By Sophia Nina B-A
Qom Railway station, Qom province, Iran.
Out of all the risk profiles I have conducted in high risk countries, researching Iran’s railway network has been the hardest to date. Not only because of the timing and heightened sensitivities of the domestic crisis unfolding currently, but because there was a lot to unpack and understand. There has been no up to date credible and reliable analysis done on the whole railway sector so far and I thought that it was something that needed to be understood properly and thoroughly. It required a lot of pressure testing information and perseverance which resulted in my research taking a total of 6 months. While I have more questions than answers at this point, I have done my best to summarise my months of research into a two page column for the International Railway Journal’s January 2026 magazine. As always I enjoyed the process despite its pains, and I look forward to keeping an eye on how things develop.
You can read the full article here: https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth/iran-seeks-new-role-as-regional-hub/