On Tuesday, a freight train service was launched in Islamabad with the goal of increasing trade between Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey.
The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) freight train was inaugurated at Margalla railway station by Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood. There were also ambassadors from Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan in attendance.
By maximising economic efficiency and lowering the cost of conducting business, the freight train service will play a critical role in enhancing the economies and lives of citizens of ECO member nations.
The importance of the ITI freight train was underscored by Railways Minister Swati, who stated that this service would open doors for business and connectivity in the region.
“The passenger train service will also start soon,” he said, adding: “We have opened our trade routes and it is a great opportunity for importers and exporters.”
The minister described the ITI freight train as an important milestone in Pakistan’s history, saying that it will improve business-to-business engagement among the country’s business community. He stated that the service would help to deepen the three countries’ ties.
Regional connectivity was one of the most essential foundations of Pakistan’s strategic trade policy framework, according to Razak Dawood, and the restart of ITI freight train operations was encouraging.
Foreign Minister Qureshi praised the ITI freight train’s reactivation, saying it would help to improve regional connectivity and boost economic activity in the region.
Turkish Ambassador Mustafa Yurdakul voiced the expectation that the train service would not stop in Istanbul but would continue all the way to Europe, benefiting all regional countries as their economy recovered post-Covid.
The first train from Islamabad to Istanbul was opened on August 14, 2009, according to Pakistan Railways. Similarly, on August 13, 2010, the first train from Istanbul arrived at the Islamabad dry port.
Eight trains have been deployed from Pakistan to Turkey so far, the last of which left the Lahore dry port on November 5, 2011. Turkey has transported six trains to Pakistan since the service began in 2009, with the most recent arriving on December 9, 2011.
Every week on Tuesday, the ITI freight train will run on schedule. According to a senior railway official, the freight train originally had nine waggons.
The operating period between Drence-Kapikoy (Istanbul) and Zahidan-Tabraiz (Iran) will be 90 hours each, according to the current arrangement to start the train and the schedule agreed upon jointly by Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan. The train journey from Zahidan to Islamabad would take 135.5 hours.
To read our blog on Federal Govt likely to restore train and inter-provincial transport services, click here.
