Potential freight exchanges relate to grain, coal, fertilisers, metals, chemicals and lumber. “The cooperation involves the comprehensive use of the infrastructure and transit capabilities of both countries, as well as the development of multimodal logistics solutions involving various modes of transport with return loads, which will reduce empty runs, optimise routes and minimise overall logistics costs”, adds KTZ.

Landlocked

Kazakhstan plays a major role in the Middle Corridor and China-Europe rail traffic more broadly. However, the country aims to diversify away from a single overland trade route. Due to their landlocked nature, the Central Asian countries take a keen interest in, for instance, enabling transport across Afghanistan. That would allow for access to the Indian Ocean through Pakistan’s Karachi port or the port at Gwadar.

“This railway line, which is over 6,500 kilometers long, plans to connect Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, to Zahedan via Tehran and the Razi border in [Iran’s province of] West Azerbaijan to Istanbul. The last train service was in August 2022, but it was halted due to technical issues, delays at customs, and infrastructure damage caused by widespread flooding. Now, with a new agreement between the three countries, this line will be operational again by the end of December 2025”, Karimi Ghahi told Turkish media.

A geoeconomic move

“The revival of this route is not just a transportation project”, Ghahi added. “It is also a geoeconomic move that could redefine Iran’s position on the Eurasian trade map.” Iran hopes to position itself as a land bridge for energy and freight supply chains between Islamic countries.

“With the resumption of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul train service, hopes for expanding economic cooperation, increasing goods transit, and establishing new ties among regional countries have been revived more than ever. Iran is at the center of this route”, Ghahi concluded.

Pakistan and Türkiye are now involved in talks to discuss the goods to be exchanged on a revived ITI service. Once those talks are over, the goal is to relaunch the service by 31 December.

A long list of problems

After a decade-long hiatus, the ITI service was restarted initially in 2021, but was discontinued in August 2022. ITI struggled with a long list of problems: service quality issues, administrative delays, inconsistent schedules, and customs bottlenecks, writes The Diplomatic Insight. Floods in 2022 destroyed much rail infrastructure, which also contributed to the demise of ITI that year.

Minister Abbasi also identified high tariffs, unreliable schedules, and weak security protocols as obstacles to be overcome in reviving the service.

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Despite the facility having opened over two decades ago, it has not been able to solidify its position as a trade hub. But that might now change: Azerbaijan Railways expressed interest in using the Gwadar Port, now that the port is getting a rail connection with Chinese help.

Business to the port

The Chinese may now be coming in with even more aid for Gwadar. The goal is to mitigate one of Gwadar’s biggest challenges: it is far off from industrial centres, making it difficult to catch freight for shipments. The Chinese Xinning Enterprise is committing itself to bringing business to the port, by launching industrial projects, optimising the free trade zone, and developing Gwadar as a transshipment hub.

More business and an INSTC connection could, theoretically, position Gwadar favourably for future transports. Through Azerbaijan, the INSTC links up to the Middle Corridor, providing rail freight options both east and west: to Central Asia and China, but also towards Europe.

ADY wants to use the port of Gwadar

In addition, ADY said it wants to explore the possibility of utilising the Pakistani port of Gwadar, located near the border with Iran. The port is not among Pakistan’s most active, but it is currently undergoing a massive upgrade to implement a rail connection with the aid of China. Its position, isolated from big industrial centres, makes it difficult to pick up significant volumes. However, with the interest of countries like Azerbaijan and, most importantly, China, the future of the port might look brighter and rail can play a big role.

Pakistan’s rail freight developments

Freight trains used to be the main mode of transport of goods in Pakistan in the mid-20th century. However, over the past 70 or 80 years, the modal share of rail freight dropped from roughly 70% to the current 4%. Projects such as the INSTC and the trans-Afghan railway, on the other hand, have now revived Pakistan’s interest in this modality. The country is cooperating with China, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Another strong partner is the United Arab Emirates, which is helping Pakistan develop its rail infrastructure with over three billion euros in investments.

The train will travel from Pakistan into Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, a route that is also known as the eastern branch of the International North – South Transport Corridor (INSTC). From Kazakhstan, it will make its way to Russia. The total length of the route is around 8,000 kilometres and takes 20 to 25 days to cross in its entirety.

Third attempt

The project has been postponed numerous times already. First, Pakistan planned to send the container train on its way in March, then in April, and now in late June. However, a tangible plan seems to be on the table for a June departure: 15 to 16 TEU of Pakistani exports, amounting to 500,000 tonnes, according to Chinese publication Xinhua.

The freight would depart Lahore for a 2,000-kilometre journey to the Iranian border. At Zahedan, an Iranian border town, the freight would be transferred from the Pakistani gauge to the Iranian one. In other words, the load would remain in Iran for a considerable amount of time.

That also makes it seem doubtful that the Pakistani exports will really depart for Russia this time around. Iran is currently the target of Israeli bombardments. Even though the east of Iran, the transit area, has been largely spared until now, it remains to be seen if Pakistan considers this a good time to move ahead with the trial.

Pakistan primarily exports leather products, electric medical appliances and textiles to Russia. As for imports, those consist of wheat, fertilisers, dried vegetables and petroleum products.

Meanwhile, Russia also expressed its interest in the project. It is already known that Russia and Uzbekistan are cooperating on a feasibility study, but now Russian businesses are also looking favourably upon the project. According to a government official, Russian car manufacturers are interested in “developing cooperation with Afghan partners in terms of deliveries of freight and passenger vehicles.” To make that possible, Russia is willing to deliver modern equipment and rolling stock for the railway.

International North – South Transport Corridor

Afghanistan, for its part, is naturally satisfied with the international interest in a cross-country line. In order to give it some more weight, it is looking to join the International North – South Transport Corridor together with Pakistan. The latter’s authorities have reportedly presented calculations for new transport corridor branches – their lengths, necessary budgets, and lists of development measures.

The first train should depart in April. It will carry containers, but Overchuk did not enter into further detail on the goods to be transported.

INSTC transport

In December 2024, Russia and Pakistan announced plans for a direct rail freight connection along the INSTC, meaning through Azerbaijan and Iran. At the time, they aimed for a March 2025 launch of the service. Whereas Overchuk mentioned no details on the route of the new rail connection, the train to be launched in April and the INSTC connection are likely the same initiative.

Meanwhile, the two countries organised a trial run for a Pakistan – Central Asia – Russia freight route in mid-March. Pakistani media wrote that textiles, food products and agricultural produce such as rice, wheat and cotton would be making their way onto the Russian and Central Asian markets. In the opposite direction, Russian oil, gas, steel and other industrial goods would be transported to Pakistan.

Pakistani terminals

The Pakistani state rail freight operator, PRFTC, said that that freight service would operate from the Qasim International Container Terminal and the Pakistan International Container Terminal. It offers transportation for 22-tonne and 44-tonne containers.

There is also an interest from the Russian side in going even beyond Pakistan. “Of course, we are interested in extending rail service and connecting to India. This is another issue we are talking about,” Overchuk said. Earlier, India and Russia started using the INSTC for coal transportation, but it evades Pakistan by ship between Iran and India.

Under the agreements, the two rail operators will study opportunities to develop Pakistan’s existing rail infrastructure and to build a new rail line. Etihad Rail says the collaboration aims to strengthen connectivity, facilitate mobility, and contribute to Pakistan’s economic growth.

Dedicated freight line

The UAE will fund the construction of a new 50-kilometre freight line from the port of Karachi to the Pipri marshalling yard. The agreement also envisages the construction of related logistics and terminal facilities, which will be led by Dubai-based DP World.

Earlier, in January 2024, the governments of the UAE and Pakistan signed an agreement for the UAE to invest more than three billion dollars in Pakistan’s rail network.

The Pakistani state rail freight operator, PRFTC, said that the freight service would operate from the Qasim International Container Terminal and the Pakistan International Container Terminal. It offers transportation for 22-tonne and 44-tonne containers.