LAHORE: The third Islam­abad-Istanbul freight train is likely to proceed for Turkey on Sunday, as the second one carrying goods weighing 525 tonnes has arrived in Istanbul via Iran. The booking for goods transportation Pakistan by this service has also started in Turkey, Dawn has learnt.

“The second train has arrived in Istanbul a few days ago after it started its journey from Pakistan on Dec 28. The goods loaded in the train were mostly the soapstone that was transported to Turkey,” an official source in the Pakistan Railways told Dawn on Friday.

After being dispatched on Dec 21 with goods including pink stone, the first train had reached Ankara via Lahore, Taftan and Zahedan on Jan 3, completing its 17-day journey in 13 days.

Under an arrangement, before reaching its destination, the goods loaded onto the train were shifted to other bogies (trans-shipment) compatible with the Iranian and Turkish rail/gauge system. It consisted of eight wagons carrying pink salt weighing 150 tonnes.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2022