23rd August, 2009The ECO Secretary General Mohammed Yahya Maroofi, the Iranian Roads and Transportation Minister Hamid Behbahani, and ECO member countries’ ambassadors to Tehran attended the welcoming ceremony of The ECO Container Train on Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Route.
The ECO Train left Islamabad’s Margala Station on August 14 enroute to Istanbul’s Haydarpashsa Station via Tehran.
The ECO Train covers a 6,500-kilometer journey in 14 days. About 1,900 kilometers of the rail link passes through Pakistan, 2,570 kilometers through Iran and 2,036 kilometers through Turkey.
His Excellency Mr. Mohammed Yahya Maroofi, the ECO Secretary General, stated here in the inaugural ceremony that the success of the ECO Container Train on Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul route would mark a major victory for the development of ECO transit transport system. It is also a bright spot for boosting trade among the three important regional countries, as well as creating a crucial corridor for East-West business linkage. Mr. Mroofi added that through this major project, the ECO region connects East and South-East Asia to Middle East and Europe. This regional and international potential is widely recognized under the existing international railway documents. Mr. Maroofi hoped that the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan will be connected to this network before long.
His Excellency Dr. Hamid Behbahani, Minister of Road and Transportation, speaking on the occasion, commended the efforts of the ECO Secretariat for hard work and persistent follow up which made it possible to actualize this train in a short time. The Minister renewed the commitment of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the aims and goals of the ECO, in particular the enhancement of regional integration through developing strong transit transport linkages in the region.
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