ISLAMABAD: The Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) railway is expected to resume operations in 2021 to boost Pakistan’s trade with Turkey and Iran, according to Adil Karaismailoglu, Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.
After the virtual 10th edition of the joint meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held in Istanbul, national railways of Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan mutually agreed to re-launch the ITI railway project in 2021.
The growing changes in the diplomatic landscape between the three countries have allowed the railway operation to resume. All three countries have agreed to unified tariffs and a steady timetable.
The trial run of the ITI train was launched in 2009 as a project under the ECO – 10-member Asian trade bloc. The rail route, which is recognized by the UN as an international corridor between the three countries, has so far only been used for test journeys.
The railway line intends to greatly reduce the transit route of the goods from Istanbul to Islamabad. During the trial, the freight train from Islamabad to Istanbul took nearly 13 days to make the 6500km journey. The journey was later further reduced to 11.5 days.
The re-launch of the ITI railway presents a great opportunity for the three nations to promote good diplomatic and economic relations. All three countries have also agreed to unified tariffs and a steady timetable for the ITI railway.
Although the project was launched to promote the economic relations among the ECO founding member countries, however, it offers a short, safe, and affordable route for transportation of goods between Asia and Europe, extending benefits to several regional countries.
From Turkey, the corridor may link up with the European rail networks via Istanbul’s 76-km long undersea Marmaray railway tunnel. Other countries earlier also expressed eagerness to join the project.
