The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) freight train connection is going to start regular operations in 2021, the railroad representatives of Pakistan, Turkey and Iran have mutually agreed this week. Turkey’s Transport Minister, Adil Karaismailoglu announced this after the 10th meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization’s Transport and Communications Ministers met in Istanbul Dec. 22. The ITI is a project under the 10-member Asian trade bloc ECO, and has been recognized by the UN as an international corridor linking the three countries. The route has so far been used for passenger transport.
The train will take about 11 days to make the 6,500-km journey from one end of the route to the other—a big advantage, for instance, for European exporters to Pakistan: In comparison, transporting goods from European countries to Pakistan by sea takes almost 45 days. From Turkey, the corridor can link up with the European rail networks via Istanbul’s 76-km-long undersea Marmaray railroad tunnel.
The railroad from Istanbul, which passes through Tehran all the way to Islamabad, has been described as “tremendously beneficial” to all three nations. It furthermore will boost economic cooperation among all ECO member countries : Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey,Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
