“The Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad freight train will save time and cost compared to sea transportation, which takes 35 days between Pakistan and Turkey, and will lead to the development of trade between the two countries. With these advantages, our competitive power will increase.
Within the scope of the "Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) Freight Train Project" implemented between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey, the first freight train departing from Islamabad reached Ankara.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu attended the welcoming ceremony for the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) freight train held on January 5, 2022 at Ankara Station. Iran's Ambassador to Ankara Muhammed Ferazmend, Pakistani Deputy Mahdum Zaid Qureshi, TCDD Tasimacilik AS General Manager Hasan Pezuk, TCDD General Manager Metin Akbaş, and railwaymen attended the ceremony.
“Thanks to hundreds of projects implemented, Turkey has become the key country of international railway corridors”
Reminding that Turkey broke a record with exports of 2021 billion dollars in 225, and that for the first time in the history of the Republic, its share in the world trade volume exceeded 1 percent, Karaismailoğlu said, "We managed to increase our exports by 10 percent last year, when the global trade in goods increased by 33 percent." used the phrase.
Pointing out that the rapidly developing commercial relations between Asia and Europe necessitate the development of transportation infrastructures in the region, Karaismailoğlu stated that they have invested more than 19 trillion 1 billion liras in the country's transportation and communication infrastructure in the last 145 years.
Karaismailoğlu, who stated that they are working hard to establish uninterrupted and high quality transportation infrastructures between continents by creating international corridors, stated that thanks to hundreds of projects implemented, Turkey has become the key country of international railway corridors.
“We aimed to operate 1500 blocks of trains per year from the Central Corridor and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route and to reduce the total 12-day cruise time between China and Turkey to 10 days”
Emphasizing that they have increased the railway network to 12 kilometers, Karaismailoğlu continued as follows: “In order to improve efficiency and safety on the railway, we increased our signal lines by 803 percent and our electrified lines by 172 percent. Thanks to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line being put into service, the opportunity to effectively use the Middle Corridor in rail freight traffic between China and Europe has emerged. Now, the 180 thousand-kilometer China-Turkey track is completed in 12 days. We are continuing our work at full speed to shift 12 percent of the annual 5 thousand block trains to Europe via China-Russia to Turkey. We aimed to operate 30 blocks of trains per year from the Middle Corridor and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route and to reduce the 1500-day cruise time between China and Turkey to 12 days. By using this line more efficiently and at a higher capacity, we will support our exporters for the 10 billion dollar target.”
Stating that they transported a total of 2021 million tons of freight in 38,5 with the railways, Karaismailoğlu said that there was a 24 percent increase in international freight transport compared to last year.
“A freight target of over 2023 million tons by 50 by rail”
Karaismailoğlu stated that they aim to increase the amount of freight transported on the railways to over 2023 million tons in 50.
“We will further increase this potential of Turkey, which has a significant trade volume in regional freight transportation, by making logistics centers. With the projects we planned within the scope of the Transport and Logistics Master Plan studies, we aimed to increase the share of railways in land transportation from 5 percent to 11 percent in the first place. We are rapidly continuing the construction works on a total of 5 thousand 176 kilometers of railway line. On Saturday, with the participation of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we are opening the Karaman-Konya High Speed Line for operation.”
“The railway sector will increase its share in passenger and freight transportation day by day”
Gebze-Sabiha Gökçen Airport-Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge-Istanbul Airport-Çatalca-Halkalı Karaismailoğlu, who informed that the works for the High Speed Train Project are also continuing, emphasized that the share of the railway sector in passenger and freight transportation will increase day by day.
Karaismailoğlu stated that the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul freight train will offer a new option to industrialists and business people on the Pakistan-Iran-Turkey route.
Departing from the Margalla station of Pakistan-Islamabad on 21 December 2021, the train completed its 1990 thousand 2 kilometer track, including 603 kilometers in Pakistan Islamabad, 1388 thousand 5 kilometers in Iran and 981 kilometers in Turkey, and reached Ankara in 12 days and 21 hours. Karaismailoğlu said:
“The Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad freight train will save time and cost compared to sea transportation, which takes 35 days between Pakistan and Turkey, and will lead to the development of trade between the two countries. With these advantages, our competitive power will increase. We aim to make the train, which is still working for the return load from Turkey, become regular in the upcoming period and to provide European connection by passing Marmaray. The second train, which departed from Pakistan on 29 December 2021, continues its journey to Turkey. With the resumption of our Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul freight train, the share of railway transportation in the trade between the two countries will increase.”
Karaismailoğlu stated that they continue to work on increasing the variety of freight, shortening the transportation times and carrying cargoes with the train, which was started to be operated again, and told exporters by train that they reach Pakistan, which has the highest population density in the world in the south of Asia, India, China, Afghanistan and Iran, which is neighboring Pakistan. pointed to the provision of a railway corridor.
Emphasizing that Turkey is one step closer to its goals of becoming a bridge and logistics base between Asia and Europe, Karaismailoğlu thanked those who contributed to the resumption of the flights.
In his speech at the ceremony, Ambassador Ferazmend stated that the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Freight Train Project is an important project brought together by three sister countries.
Emphasizing the importance of such projects, Ferazmend said that Turkey, Iran and Pakistan are the three important countries of Asia.
“The first important step towards regional connectivity”
Ferazmend pointed out that this line connects Pakistan to Turkey via Iran and reduces transportation time and cost, and said, “Pakistan, Iran and Turkey took the first important step towards a regional connection. Accordingly, the first train departed from Islamabad on 21 December. The three countries plan to implement the passenger train project on the same line in the near future.” used the expressions.
Pakistani Deputy Qureshi pointed out that the aforementioned project will play an important role not only to increase regional connectivity, but also to promote economic and commercial activities in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region.
Pointing out that this line reduces the transportation time of products to 6-543 days and reduces transportation costs on a line of approximately 12 thousand 14 kilometers between Islamabad and Istanbul, Qureshi said, “This freight train provides an opportunity to further increase its exports to Pakistan and to connect with international markets, including Europe. will present. It will also provide a bridge between Turkey and the European and Asian markets. This will also contribute to the rapprochement of the peoples of the region.” said.
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