BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 16. Iran is ready to boost freight transport potential with Pakistan through railway connections, said Jabbar Ali Zakeri, Deputy Minister for Roads and Urban Development of Iran, Chairman of the Board, and President of the Railways of Iran (RAI), Trend reports.
During a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart at the 22nd session of the Iran-Pakistan Joint Economic Cooperation Commission in Tehran, which kicked off on September 15, Zakeri made it clear that bolstering railway diplomacy and ramping up freight transport and transit between the two nations are at the top of the agenda.
Chairman of Pakistan Railways Syed Mazhar Ali Shah noted that the current railway freight potential between the two countries remains very low. He stressed that Pakistan is ready to eliminate existing obstacles by improving infrastructure and increasing the number of wagons. Ali Shah added that restoration work has already begun on the Quetta–Taftan railway line, which aims to increase train speed and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2028.
During the discussions, the Pakistani side also expressed interest in developing programs to create routes for freight and container trains moving between Russia, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan.
Both sides agreed to increase railway freight transport fivefold and bring it to 1 million tons annually in the near future. It was also decided that Pakistan will cooperate to ensure the provision of trains needed for freight transport from Iran’s Zahedan to Pakistan.
At the conclusion of the meeting, it was agreed that a cooperation framework document between the two railway authorities will be signed at the end of the Joint Economic Cooperation Commission’s session.
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