The provision of efficient transport services in the Iranian maritime and land transport interface.

Doctor of Philosophy in Economics. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 2014.This research investigates the efficiency of Iran’s transport system with reference to the seaborne trade and sustainable development of ports, shipping services, logistics centres and transit corridors as the overall objectives. The reason this study is relevant, is it introduces Iran through its potentially cost-effective transport advantages to create an alternative source of revenue for a country that is heavily dependent on oil income. To successfully analyse the provision of effective transport services in the Iranian maritime and land transport interface, the emerging Iranian transport corridors have been under close observation, and a scenario planning approach mixed with a descriptive exploratory comparative cost analysis has been applied. This methodology comprises two stages. The first stage involves the identification of the main features, limitations and challenges of the chosen transport corridors through which the different infrastructure and the development of main ports, routes and corridors are described according to the available data and information. The second and more analytical stage utilises this base to estimate and compare the comparative costs of these through-transport routes, with a view to establishing their cost effectiveness. As research recommendations, the optimisation of efficiency of some alternative land haulage routes, and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as a sea cum-land route-rail are elaborated