Rail Cargo Route With Pakistan, Turkey Planned

A rail cargo route from Quetta in Pakistan to the city of Zahedan in eastern Iran will be launched soon as part of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul rail route, Pakistan’s Minister of Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said. He made the announcement during a two-day meeting with Iranian rail officials and those of Turkey in Islamabad, which concluded on Thursday, read an Islamic Republic of Iran Railways’s press release sent to Financial Tribune. The so-called ECO route was first proposed by the founding members of the Economic Cooperation Organization, but failed to become operational. In the latest meeting, the three sides discussed obstacles to the project, including ways of reducing the duration of the journey and transportation costs. Iran and Pakistan also agreed to include Afghanistan in the route.