Islamabad, July 18, ECOIDEAL – An official of Pakistan railways from Balochistan province says that trade growth between Iran and Pakistan has increased the number of cargo trains between the two neighboring states.
In an interview with ECOIDEAL, Station Master of Quetta Railway Station, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said that right now there are seven scheduled cargo trains between Iran and Pakistan in a month.
“As compared to past years, we are witnessing a big increase in the number of cargo trains which also means that the trade between Iran and Pakistan is growing rapidly,” he said.
Last year volume of trade between Iran and Pakistan increased to more than $1bn which shows a growing trend after the JCPOA.
He added that rail track between Quetta to Taftan border point is damaged and urgently needs to be repaired.
The official said that mostly chemicals and cement comes from Iran and rice and other agricultural items are going from Pakistan through the rail road.
Muhammad Zafar Iqbal said that Pakistan is interested in upgrading the railway track on its side but it would need the support of Iranian railways in this regards.
He said that if the track is upgraded both countries can also launch passenger train service for the Pakistani pilgrims going to Iran and other tourists.
The official noted that there is absolutely no security problem along Quetta-Zahedan rail track and the trains run on this track easily even during the night time.
He said that due to the slow train service people prefer road journey between Iran and Pakistan. “In past we used to run three passenger trains between the two countries in a month,” he said.
Last week an Iranian railways delegation visited Pakistan to participate in the 9th high level Working Group meeting of ECO Container Train on Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul route.
During a meeting with Pakistan Secretary of Railways, Parveen Agha the Iranian delegation also urged Pakistan to give extra attention to Quetta-Taftan railway line which is an important section of Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Container Train Corridor project.
There are only 14 Railway Stations in the last 553 km section of the track. The total length of track from Quetta to Zahedan is 732 km with the last 100 km section being inside Iran.
Earlier Pakistan Minister for Railways had said that Pakistan Railway is working on a master plan to upgrade its three main arteries including Quetta to Taftan railway line which will improve connectivity among ECO states.
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Source : I R N A