Tehran to Tabriz

Tabriz is the capital of East Azerbaijan, a city of carpets and one of the great bazaars of the Silk Road. It had a railway long before the capital's line reached it: a Russian-built line from Jolfa brought the first train into Tabriz in 1916, more than forty years before the line from Tehran arrived.

That line opened in 1958 and runs 748 km. It crosses the Qazvin plain past Zanjan, drops into the gorges of the Qezel Ozan at Mianeh, and then takes the long way round: south of Sahand, a volcano of 3,707 m, down the eastern side of Lake Urmia and up into Tabriz. It takes about twelve hours, and almost every train runs overnight.

The exception is international. Twice a week Raja's train from Van, in eastern Türkiye, leaves Tabriz at 06:21 and reaches Tehran at 18:25. It is the only train that runs the whole line by day.

The trains leave Tehran westward through Karaj and across the plain at the foot of the Alborz to Qazvin, then on past Takestan and Khorramdarreh to Zanjan. The westbound Van train, which leaves Tehran at 13:30 on Sundays and Wednesdays, reaches Qazvin at about half past three and Zanjan at about half past five.

Beyond Zanjan the line comes down to the Qezel Ozan and its gorges. Near Mianeh the railway crosses it on a tall stone arch. US Army engineers photographed the bridges and the Qaflankuh gorge in 1943.

Round Sahand

At Mianeh the line does not head straight for Tabriz. It turns west through Hashtrud and climbs into the hills south of Sahand, through the canyon of the Qaranqu river and over the stone viaduct at Mardaq near Maragheh, a town of medieval tomb towers.

From Maragheh the line turns north, through Ajabshir and Azarshahr on the eastern side of Lake Urmia, with Sahand on the other side of the train, and runs up into Tabriz. A cut-off from Mianeh to Tabriz by way of Bostanabad opened in 2023, but the passenger trains we checked still take about twelve hours, the time the long way round takes.

The trains

Every train on the route in November 2026 was Raja's, with four-berth sleeping compartments. The coaches carry names rather than numbers — Sarir, Novin, Ahoo — and a four-star rating. Most leave in the evening and arrive in the morning.

The Van train is the one to find. It runs Tehran–Tabriz–Salmas–Khoy–Razi and over the Turkish border to Van on Lake Van, about 22 hours with customs at Razi and at Kapıköy, where a Turkish locomotive takes over. The service came back in March 2025 after five years without one. Going west it leaves Tehran at lunchtime and crosses the mountains in the dark. Coming back it leaves Tabriz at 06:21 and runs the whole line by day, reaching Tehran at 18:25.

Raja runs every train on the route. We read the seller's board for each day from 11 to 20 November 2026; the day departures below kept the same times on every date they ran. The night trains did not, so their pattern is given in words.

Tabriz to Tehran

Take the 06:21. It is the only train that covers the whole line in daylight, roughly from mid-April to the end of August; in winter it leaves Tabriz before sunrise. It was sold out on every date we read, so book as early as you can. The 11:40 runs on most days and crosses the mountains between Tabriz and Mianeh by day, then continues overnight to Tehran and on to Mashhad.

Tehran to Tabriz

The Tehran–Van train sees the plain as far as Zanjan by day and the mountains in the dark. It goes on to Van, arriving at 12:25.

The night trains. On most days a sleeper leaves each end in the evening: from Tehran at 18:30 or 20:17, from Tabriz at 16:15 or 17:25, taking twelve to thirteen and a half hours. Which runs, and when, changes from day to day, so check your date.

The eastern half by day. On 17 November a Saba seated train left Mianeh at 05:25 and reached Tehran at 12:10.

As of November 2026. Times and seats: alibaba.ir/train/TBZ-THR (opens in a new tab).

Fares are in toman, ten rials to the toman. A berth in a four-berth compartment between Tehran and Tabriz is 1,880,000 toman, on the Van train and the night sleepers alike; Tabriz to Mianeh is 963,900. In November 2026 alibaba.ir was selling most of these trains 13 to 14 per cent below the full fare.

Tickets are sold online by Iranian agencies such as alibaba.ir, in Persian. Visa and Mastercard do not work in Iran, so pay in cash, with a Central Bank rial card for non-residents, or through an Iranian agency. The Van train was sold out on every date we read, so buy as soon as your dates are fixed.

No rail pass covers Iran. Interrail's One Country Pass list, checked in November 2026, includes Türkiye but not Iran, and there is no Iranian national multi-journey ticket either.

A Türkiye pass does not help on this page: it covers the Turkish railway, not the Iranian part of the Van train. Here what matters is buying early.

The line passes four cities with monuments older than any railway. The places below run in the order a train from Tehran reaches them, ending in Tabriz.

The 06:21 from Tabriz means a night in Tabriz before you go. One card below is a hotel by El-Goli park; the other is in the cliff village of Kandovan, for a night in a room cut into the rock. Neither Tabriz hotel has a website of its own that we could open, so both cards link to the hotel's page on alibaba.ir. The Tehran card links to the hotel's own site.

None of the cards has a photograph: Iran has no freedom of panorama, so a picture of a modern building cannot be published freely.

Which train. Tabriz to Tehran on the Van train, 06:21 on Tuesdays and Fridays, roughly from mid-April to the end of August. It is the only train that runs the whole line in daylight.

Which side. Leaving Tabriz southward, Lake Urmia is on the right and Sahand on the left.

Language. The railway, its stations and its ticketing work in Persian. There is no English timetable and no English booking channel. Have the station names written in Persian script — تهران Tehran, زنجان Zanjan, میانه Mianeh, مراغه Maragheh, تبریز Tabriz — and an offline translation app.

Money. Sanctions keep Visa and Mastercard out of Iran entirely. Bring cash to change, or arrange a rial debit card for non-residents.

Season. The trains run all year. Tabriz has cold winters with snow; from late autumn to early spring the early and late hours of the Van train are dark.

Planning this trip and stuck on something, or spotted a time, fare or detail that has changed? Send us a message about Tehran to Tabriz. We read every one, and we update this page when something has changed.