Turkey-Iran-Pakistan cargo train restarts after 10-year halt

[Meengla]

Nice news. Hope the passenger trains also start soon. Imagine from the western most regions of the UK to Pakistan and then to India and beyond--all land route!
Question: I thought the train crossing at Van between Iran and Turkey was stopped some years ago? And that those taking the train had to cross the border on some boats on Lake Van and then board different train??

 

[dBSPL]

Nice news. Hope the passenger trains also start soon. Imagine from the western most regions of the UK to Pakistan and then to India and beyond--all land route!
Question: I thought the train crossing at Van between Iran and Turkey was stopped some years ago? And that those taking the train had to cross the border on some boats on Lake Van and then board different train??

Trains cross the Van Lake by ferry without changing tracks. This transition actually shortens the transportation time considerably. Ferries pass between Tatvan and Van in 4 hours, including the ferry loading and unloading operation. Currently, ferries with a capacity of 4000 tons / 50 wagons are gradually put into service. Despite the pandemic in 2020, freight transport passing through Lake Van exceeded 500,000 tons, the annual average growth of this line is around 50%, and it will exceed 1 million tons in a short time with the extension of the Iran line to Pakistan. However, the real boom will be experienced with the integration of Trabzon port and Rize/Iyidere logistics port into the national railway as well as with the high-speed train network reaching Erzincan.

 

[khansaheeb]

Those must`ve been some truly fvcking hellacious "technical issues" if it took 10 years to fix them.
The main thing now tho` that it is up and running,is to ensure that it stays up and running and does not once again succumb to unforeseen "technical issues",as I have no doubt that the west will continue to try and pressure pakistan to once again cut its own throat when it comes to any and all economic deals with iran,especially one like this that is a big win-win-win for all 3 countries involved.
Time will tell,I guess.

Main thing is to connect Karachi and Gwadar to this line via a southern point in Iran.

 

[Tshering22]

Nice news. Hope the passenger trains also start soon. Imagine from the western most regions of the UK to Pakistan and then to India and beyond--all land route!
Question: I thought the train crossing at Van between Iran and Turkey was stopped some years ago? And that those taking the train had to cross the border on some boats on Lake Van and then board a different train??

You have a good idea. But in terms of the per-ton costs, it will take massive economies of scale to make it competitive against shipping that remains the cheapest form of cargo transport in the world even today. The RTK figures will have to be calculated afresh when including new countries into the equation in West Asia as well.

For example, while it would require minimal connectivity with us, connecting the 'Stans that use Russian gauge railways will be a challenge. And then there is Afghanistan that has 0 operational railways. Imagine the investment needed to just build freight railways to carry the mined resources from Afghanistan to the rest of the world.

More infrastructure investment is needed. We should work harder on reducing trade barriers... perhaps even on a common customs union. We are content with very little of the great potential we can still use.

Do you have any government feasibility study documents that can be uploaded here? It would be interesting to look at the numbers crunched to make this project a reality.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Meengla]

Trains cross the Van Lake by ferry without changing tracks. This transition actually shortens the transportation time considerably. Ferries pass between Tatvan and Van in 4 hours, including the ferry loading and unloading operation. Currently, ferries with a capacity of 4000 tons / 50 wagons are gradually put into service. Despite the pandemic in 2020, freight transport passing through Lake Van exceeded 500,000 tons, the annual average growth of this line is around 50%, and it will exceed 1 million tons in a short time with the extension of the Iran line to Pakistan. However, the real boom will be experienced with the integration of Trabzon port and Rize/Iyidere logistics port into the national railway as well as with the high-speed train network reaching Erzincan.

Nice!!! Thx!

You have a good idea. But in terms of the per-ton costs, it will take massive economies of scale to make it competitive against shipping that remains the cheapest form of cargo transport in the world even today. The RTK figures will have to be calculated afresh when including new countries into the equation in West Asia as well.

For example, while it would require minimal connectivity with us, connecting the 'Stans that use Russian gauge railways will be a challenge. And then there is Afghanistan that has 0 operational railways. Imagine the investment needed to just build freight railways to carry the mined resources from Afghanistan to the rest of the world.


Do you have any government feasibility study documents that can be uploaded here? It would be interesting to look at the numbers crunched to make this project a reality.

Thanks in advance!

I was thinking about passengers trains.

 

[Tshering22]

Nice!!! Thx!
I was thinking about passengers trains.

When it comes to passengers, we have another added element called time constraints. Regular trains with their average speed of 180 - 220 KPH will take a very long time between the Subcontinent and Europe even if the visa and other operational processes were made easy. While they will certainly be cheaper than flights, they will in no way be quicker. As for high-speed rail, it is a big LOL since most of the public won't be able to afford the ticket price.

People value time and with cheap flights from Turkey, Pakistan, India, etc., it does not make business sense to operate. freight trains are a more viable option, especially to the 'Stans, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus areas that are more land-dependent and don't have vital ports except for a handful.

 

[Meengla]

When it comes to passengers, we have another added element called time constraints. Regular trains with their average speed of 180 - 220 KPH will take a very long time between the Subcontinent and Europe even if the visa and other operational processes were made easy. While they will certainly be cheaper than flights, they will in no way be quicker. As for high-speed rail, it is a big LOL since most of the public won't be able to afford the ticket price.

People value time and with cheap flights from Turkey, Pakistan, India, etc., it does not make business sense to operate. freight trains are a more viable option, especially to the 'Stans, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus areas that are more land-dependent and don't have vital ports except for a handful.

Correct.
And such passenger trains will be for specialized group of travelers--kind of like people who travel from St. Petersburg to Beijing. Rich, leisurely travel, with often overnight stays in hotels.
But we know not happening in our lifetime in this case... Maybe someone reading some archives of PDF in year 2222 would chuckle at this thread while planning a real trip!