Armenia's Orient Express

The Russians are likely to build and the Iranians plan to pick up much of the tab for a proposed Armenia-Iran railroad, meant to provide a second international railway route for landlocked and semi-blockaded Armenia.

Two subsidiaries of Russian Railroad placed bids to construct the 400-kilometer line, a job with an estimated cost of anywhere from $1.7 billion to $4 billion. The terrain is mountainous, making it difficult and cost-consuming to clear the roadbed, but Yerevan says the link will offer a vital gateway for Armenia's exports.    

The furthest Armenians can now travel by train is to the Georgian Black Sea port city of Batumi. The dispute over the breakaway region of Abkhazia and the Nagorno-Karabakh War long ago put paid to railway connections to Russia.

After completing a feasibility study, Tehran said it will pay its own money to build the Iranian section of the railroad and will co-sponsor the Armenian section.