The government has decided to restart the Islamabad–Tehran–Istanbul (ITI) freight train service from December 31, pending the conclusion of talks on tradable goods and the resolution of logistical and operational matters, Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi said.
Speaking at a press conference at the Pakistan Railways headquarters, Abbasi said the service’s revival had been delayed due to the regional conflict involving Israel but would now resume by the end of the year. “We plan to restart the ITI train operations from December 31, subject to the finalisation of trade arrangements — what will be exported and imported between Turkiye and Pakistan. The trade ministers are working on it,” he said.
The ITI train service, part of the Economic Cooperation Organization’s regional connectivity initiative, was last revived in December 2021 after nearly a decade. Trains reached Turkiye in January 2022 but operations were suspended eight months later due to administrative, financial and infrastructure-related issues.
Officials said the suspension followed delays in payments to Turkish freight forwarders, inadequate service quality, slow customs clearances, and high freight charges. Floods in Sindh and Balochistan in mid-2022 further halted operations after rail tracks were damaged and the 140-year-old Hirok Bridge collapsed, severing Quetta’s link to the national network.
Abbasi said a new agreement to connect Pakistan with Kazakhstan via Chaman is also being finalised. “We already have an agreement with Uzbekistan, and the next step is Kazakhstan. This will allow access to Central Asia, Russia, and Europe through an expanded rail network,” he said.
He added that the rehabilitation of the 500-kilometre Rohri–Karachi track is being planned with Asian Development Bank funding, while financing is being arranged for the Rohri–Peshawar section. “The groundbreaking for the Rohri–Karachi track rehabilitation is expected in July next year,” Abbasi noted.
The minister also announced that the Karachi Railway Station had been modernised and expanded to double the size of Lahore’s station. The upgraded Shalimar Express will be relaunched on November 7, followed by the Awam, Allama Iqbal, and Rehman Baba Express trains in the coming months.
He added that Pakistan Railways had earned an additional Rs4.5 billion through the outsourcing of luggage vans and express cargo trains.
