An important high-level meeting was held at Pakistan Railways headquarters in Lahore to discuss revival of Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul or ECO freight train service, Trend reports citing İRNA.
According to an official statement, the meeting presided over by Secretary and Chairman Pakistan Railways Habib-ur-Rehman Gilani, reviewed different aspects of the Economic Cooperation Organization train service, including security issues, track condition, rolling stock and availability of locomotives.
Gilani inquired about the current situation and future problems of the train service and asked the Pakistan Railways team operating Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul train to immediately contact with the ECO Secretariat to resolve all issues in this regard.
He directed the Railway Police to ensure safety of this important train and issued instructions to other intelligence agencies to ensure security of the train service.
It is worth mentioning that the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, during his speech at the 14th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization on March 5, stressed the need to develop an integrated transport network to facilitate trade between ECO members and termed ECO cargo train an important regional connectivity project.
Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood also welcomed the resumption of ECO container train between Tehran-Istanbul-Islamabad and said that it would facilitate trade between Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Referring to the recent agreement between Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey as founding members of the ECO to resume the container train this year, news sources say the project would facilitate trade and regional connections between the three countries.