TEHRAN – The rail freight transportation between Iran and Turkey is going to be increased to one million tons in 2021, Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement.

The two sides have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in this regard during a gathering of railroad representatives in Turkey's capital Ankara on January 12-13, Tasnim news agency reported.

According to the statement, this MOU will be the opening chapter of a new era in the rail transportation cooperation between the two countries.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, three train services were run daily between Turkey and Iran in 2020, transporting 564,000 tons of cargo, the statement said.

“In this regard, all necessary measures have been taken to increase the volume of transport between the two countries to one million tons in 2021.”

As reported by Rail Freight, the statement also announced that freight trains would also run between Turkey and Pakistan via Iran on a common tariff between the three countries. It added that talks are still ongoing to set this tariff.

“Turkey, Iran and Pakistan have reiterated that they want to revive services of the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train, not later than this year. This would boost traffic between Iran and Turkey even further.”

Back in August 2020, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami and Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu held talks in a video conference session to discuss cooperation between the two neighbors.

In the meeting, Eslami emphasized the need for the development of rail transport between Iran and Turkey and noted that currently the only railway border between the two neighbors is through the Razi border to Van in Turkey.

EF/MA