The train has resumed its operations after a gap of 10 years and a special ceremony was held at Islamabad’s Margalla Railway Station on the occasion.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Ambassador of Iran Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Ambassadors of Turkey, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan attended the ceremony.
The train will cover 1,990 km inside Pakistan, passing through Quetta into Taftan at the Iranian border and on to Tehran and Tabriz covering about 2,570 km and the train will reach Istanbul after covering 2,000 km in Turkey.
Azam Khan Swati, Pakistan's Minister of Railways speaking on the occasion said strengthening and expanding ECO rail cooperation can contribute to regional stability and peace.
He added that Pakistan has opened its doors for connectivity with the countries of the region. He said that ITI train would strengthen business-to-business ties. He said the train will cover the distance in `10 days.
Swati said after the ITI freight train a passenger train between the three countries is also planned.
Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood speaking on the occasion said that it was heartening to witness the resumption of operations of the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad (ITI) Freight Train after ten years.
He said the train will complete the one-side trip in 12-days and will go a long way in facilitating the movement of goods between Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey.
“I call our exporters to take benefit of this alternative route and mode of transport and contact MOC for any facilitation in this regard. Today is a day which will be long remembered this region over the years has been,” said.
He went on to say the Ministry of Commerce has been working continuously and asking for efforts to increase trade. We've already initiated regional trade through trucks under TIR. Trucking is ongoing but the real potential is through Railways which is more economical.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the inauguration of the train is the beginning of what was visualized by the ECO. He said Economic integration will only take place with such projects.
He noted the intra-regional trade should be enhanced and for this, we must have economic security.
“I want to promote economic diplomacy”, Qureshi said. He said we will also going to see ITI passenger train which will connect the people of the region.
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