The First meeting of the ITI Train freight forwarder companies was organized by the ECO Secretariat virtually on September 26, 2022.

The First meeting of the ITI Train freight forwarder companies was organized by the ECO Secretariat virtually on September 26, 2022.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of the designated freight forwarder companies from the ITI en-route countries (the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Türkiye) as well as the officials of the railway administrations. The delegation of the ECO Secretariat was headed by the Director of Directorate of Transport and Communications Mr. Akbar Khodaei.

The Meeting was organized as per the decision of the 12th High Level Working Group Meeting on Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Train (April 25, 2022) to discuss on the tariffs, pricing formula for forwarders and timetable for regular operation of the ITI Train.

Freight Forwarder companies of the ITI Train and the officials of the railway administrations of the en-route countries delivered their viewpoints on the various technical and operational issues of the ITI Train services and sorted out the challenges and recommended necessary solutions for alleviation of concerns. The participants expressed their satisfaction on the results of the Meeting and requested the Secretariat to continue such meetings.

The ITI train’s initiative was made upon the decision of the 8th Ministerial Meeting on Transport and Communications held on June 28-29, 2011 at Ashgabat. Subsequently, the relevant High-Level Working Group consisting of representatives from en-route Member States was established for further coordination to help materialize the ITI initiative. The ITI Train resumed its operation in December 2021 after almost 10 years of its last move in the Corridor.