India to trial run freight train from Dhaka to Istanbul

The Dollar Business Bureau

Taking a leaf out of China’s book, India is currently exploring the possibility of operating a transcontinental rail freight service linking Bangladesh with Turkey, covering a total of 6,000 km journey through various countries - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.

A high-level delegation consisting of railway officials, policy makers from nine South Asian and South-West Asian and Central Asian, along with representatives from several international and regional organisations, as well as the private sector will meet in New Delhi to contemplate upon the opportunities and hurdles of this ambitious connectivity project. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in collaboration with the Indian Railways Ministry has organised the meeting, aimed at taking forward the proposed railway transport connectivity in South and South-West Asia.

Earlier this year, China sent its first freight train on an 8000-mile journey to London, originating from Chinese port city of Yiwu and passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium, and France before entering the UK through the Channel Tunnel.

India is also considering a similar pattern of connectivity project and is making attempts to run a trans-container freight train, codenamed as the ITI-DKD-Y corridor, from Dhaka to Istanbul taking a 6000 km route covering five countries- the scheduled route being Dhaka-Kolkata-Delhi-Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul. Later, Yangon will also be connected to Dhaka. The participating countries are hoping the project will give a major fillip to trade, investment and economic development in the Asia-Pacific region.

While the South and South-West Asia continue to be the least connected and integrated sub-regions in the world, the meeting will review and identify innovative measures to enhance cross-country railway transport, a measure central to spurring economic growth, boosting trade and transport connectivity and improving lives in the region.

Last year, India had sent a high-level team of railway officers to Dhaka to survey the purposed rail route. So far, all participating countries have on paper favoured the project and have agreed to its technical demonstration.

India is also starting another freight train from its port in Mumbai to Russia by the end of this August. The freight train is planned to originate from Helsinki to Mumbai, via Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, India and Southeast Asia. This multi-modal freight transport will cover a total distance of more than 7,000 kilometers.