Iran, Turkey, Pakistan to bolster railway cooperation

TEHRAN,July 1(MNA) - Iranian, Turkish and Pakistani railway authorities have called for boosting cooperation and increasing the number of trains on the Islamabad-Tehran-Ankara route, said the head of the Iranian Railways Company, Abdolali Saheb-Mohammadi. He made the remarks on the sidelines of the 11th meeting of heads of railway organizations of the Economic Cooperation Organization, which was held on June 27-28, 2012 in Ankara. He also said that the three sides agreed to reduce custom charges in order to encourage the private sector to invest in this field. Participants in the meeting underlined the necessity of expanding railway infrastructure in the three countries. ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization that was established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, which provides a platform to promote economic, technical and cultural cooperation among member states. The organization was expanded in 1992 to include seven new members, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.