By reducing the transshipment costs of the Iranian corridor for the ECO Container Trains travelling between three countries (Pakistan-Iran-Turkey), not only the transshipment costs of empty and loaded between these countries has been decreased, but also, the same possibility has been created for the European companies which may dispatch their products to Iran and Islamabad (Pakistan) faster and more economically.
The reduced cost for loaded and empty containers is now €30 and €10, respectively, after a constructive meeting between Iranian and Pakistani delegations responsible for this impact.
A couple of days ago, an Iranian delegation led by Majid Arjooni, director general of South East Railway Company, during a meeting with Parveen Agha, secretary for railroads, on Friday, offered the new reduced cost and requested the doors of container trains be sealed instead of being welded.
According to the news published from the meeting, Iran has assured Pakistan of its full cooperation in the operation of ECO Container Train on Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul route and has decided to reduce transshipment cost for the container train at Zahedan station.
Acceding to the Iranian request, Agha assured the delegation that containers will be sealed in the future.
The Iranian delegation cited the Quetta-Taftan section as important for the container train and said it should be given priority and all technical and mechanical issues should be resolved on a priority basis.
The Iranian delegation participated in the Ninth High-Level Working Group Meeting of ECO Container Train. The meeting decided that the total travel time of the container train from Hayadarpas in Iran to Istanbul will be 15.5 days.
By altering the route, the travel period in Pakistan will be reduced from 8.5 to 6 days. The meeting discussed the infrastructure movement requirements as well as the possibility of a corridor management mechanism through harmonization of processes and documentation between the agencies of the three countries to improve the corridor’s efficiency.
