The Van Tehran Train, a passenger train with a capacity of 12.35 people, departed from Tehran, the capital of Iran, at 280 and arrived at Van Train Station on Monday, March 22, after a journey of approximately 10 hours.
TCDD Transportation Inc. Deputy General Manager Şems Çakıroğlu, Governor and Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Ozan Balcı, AK Party Van Deputy Kayhan Türkmenoğlu, Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Adem Şen, Yüzüncü Yıl University Rector Prof. Dr. Hamdullah Şevli, Provincial Police Chief Murat Mutlu, TCDD Van Logistics Manager Tahirhan Gencer, Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Necdet Takva and institution managers welcomed 200 passengers with flowers.
During the program held at the station, statements were made and it was expressed that they were happy to see flights to Tehran restart.
" We will contribute to cultural interactions between Türkiye and Iran "
TCDD Transportation Inc. Deputy General Manager Şems Çakıroğlu said that the railway cooperation between Turkey and Iran will not only contribute to passenger transportation but also to cultural interactions. Recalling that such trips were made in the past, Çakıroğlu provided the following information: “We had carried more than ten thousand passengers between Iran and Turkey. The density here shows how necessary it is to restart the trips. We are happy about this. We shared the joy of our passengers. Our 280-car train with a capacity of 7 people reached Van in 1070 hours on a 22-kilometer route. We expect the trips to continue to increase. There is high demand. We are seeing great interest, especially from Iran. Tickets are available for sale at ticket offices and online.”
Türkmenoğlu, who stated that the trips were a very important and exciting development for Van, said: “The 7-wagon passenger train that set off from Tehran yesterday reached our city. We welcomed the passengers. The trips will be made twice a week. A bridge was built between Van and Tehran. Today, our train from Van to Tehran is full. All tickets are sold. This shows how important our work is. 720 thousand Iranian tourists came to our city last year. Our goal for this year is 1 million. These developments contribute to our economy. I would like to thank everyone who supported us, especially Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, who made great efforts in this work.”
“We believe that train services will strengthen commercial and touristic ties”
Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Necdet Takva also stated that there is tourism activity in the city. Takva wished the train services to be beneficial and said, “The services will contribute to regional development, development of relations between countries, tourism activity and revival of local trade. We are pleased with this. We want the authorities to ensure the sustainability of the services. We believe that the train services that have started will strengthen the commercial and touristic ties between the two countries.”
Iranian tourist Saher Semsami said, “We had a comfortable train journey. Everything went well. We had come to Van by car before. This place is very nice. We will go shopping. I thank the authorities for providing us with this opportunity.”
Elnaz Vazife, who stated that she chose Van for a holiday with her family, said that they had a nice journey by train and said, "There are many places to visit in Van. We were welcomed very warmly. We love Turkey very much."
It was reported that the flights will be made from Tehran at 12.35 on Sundays and Wednesdays, and from Van at 20.00 on Mondays and Thursdays.
