Evening star., 1941-10-19
New Road May Solve
Soviet Supply Need,
Experts Here Told
Indiu-Eust Iran Route,
Counterpart Of Burmu,
Believed Practicable
Nv JAMES FREE.


Even if Russian armies are driven
far from their present battle fronts
and their existing major supply
routes are cut off by Axis powers
or rigorS of winter, there is strong
possibility that Red forces might
be kept in the war by an overland
truck route comparable to China's
Burma Road.
Some defense authorities here
believe they have worked out such
route through Eastern Iran, out of
range of German bombers and
capable of DEVELOPMENT for heavy
traffic within a short time.
Moreover. a major part of the
road to be used already is gravelled.
And the entire proposed route
which would utilize rail facilities
in western India and connect the
Indian port of Karachi with rail-
roads in south central Russia-is
in arid country little subject to
severe snow and ice in winter.
Border Stretch Difficult.
There would be one difficult
stretch of 20 to 30 miles through
mountain passes near the Russian
1ranian border, but authorities here
think a currently travelled carriage
road" could be improved readily
by American and British engineers
and abundant Iranian labor.
Most advantageous factor, in the
opinion of sponsors of the plan, is
the fact that the supply line could
be put in operation in a few weeks.
or months at most. 1t would be
an invaluable supplement to the
Trans-Iranian Railway in Western
Iran now being worked on feveriSh-
1y by the British. This is particu-
1arly true, since port ard rail IA
cilities on the TranS-Iranian have
rather limited development posi-
bilities. And roads and railways in
Western Iran and Iraq already are
heavily burdened with moving men
and supplies for both British and
Russian forces in that area. The
projected overland route through
Eastern Iran could be used exclusive
ly as lifeline to interior Russia.
There has been considerable re-
to improve the Trans Iranian Rail-
way. running 866 miles from Ran
darshahpur on the Persian Gulf to
BandarShah on the Caspian Sea.
Transportation specialists IN Wash
ington point out, however, that port
facilities at both ends of the line
are poor: so poor on the Caspian
Gan inland sea that has fallen at the
rate of one foot a year for some
years and is now only four to five
feet deep at the Bandarshah docks
that shipments have to be carried
by truck nearly so miles from the
railhead before they can be loaded
on large boats.
Line Capacity Meagre.
In addition, narrow TUNES. high
mountain passes and other hazards
place definite limitations on the
quantities of freight that may be
hauled on the railroad officials
estimate that the line cannot now
carry as much as 200 tons a day.
And. even with Improvements, it is
doubtful if the Trans -Iranian Sys-
tenn can handle more than few
hundred tons day. A late tabu-
lation by the Commerce Department
showed that it had only 881 pieces
of rolling equipment. 1t is the same
gauge as American railroads, and
the British have asked the United
States to furnish rolling stock and
rails under the lease-lend program.
PotentialitieS on the combined
rail and motor route in East Iran
seem better. Karachi. India, is de-
scribed by State Department and
Commerce Department officials as
modern port" And the North
western Railway tracks leading
northWard and then westward to
Zahidan. just across the Iranian
border. are part of the largest rail-
way system in India and could be
supplied with great quantities of
diverted rolling stocks from other
parts of the line. This branch of
the railroad has been maintained
by the British primarily for stra-
,tegic reasons. All the Indian sys-
TENS tracks have 5 foot inch |
gauge, compared to standard Amer |
1Edu SduSe VI I 1ceI IilCIlCS'
Important. too is the fact that |
the Indian branch railroad involved /
is known TO have more than 20 miles
of sidings.
Motor Road Connects.
The motor road runs from Zahl- /
dan northWard to Mashad and then |
northwest through a mountain pass |
to Astrabad, Russia, on the Tran
Caspian Railway which connects |
with other railways in that vast
country. About $50 miles of the
road are listed as primary or
eravel-surfaced, while the 60-odd |
miles on the difficult north end 60
ing into Astrabad are classed as
Secondary" On maps of the Ma
tional Geographic Society the lat
ter part of the route is called a
carriage" road.
Improvements would have to be
made to the road, undoubtedly, be-
fore heavy transport trucks could
use it in great number. But au-
thorities maintain that this problem
is trifing compared with obstacles
overcome in building the Burma
road. Few bridges would be re-
ouired, and the terrain is fairly