Negotiations are reportedly underway to establish a regular railway link between Iraq, Turkey and Iran, said Falah Hassan, the acting director-general of Iraqi railways, in conversation with the Al-Qadissiya daily.
According to Hassan, the rail link will involve both passengers and goods. Ultimately, he added, the link would enable to Iraq's rail system reach both East Asia and Europe.
This latest announcement represents an increasing effort by the Iraqi transpiration authorities to link their railway network to others in the region. Iraq and Syria resumed a rail service in August ¯ 19 years after the links between them were cut. Earlier in the week, Turkish, Iraqi and Syrian officials met in Ankara to discuss a link between the three countries, which should be operational by spring.
The recently reopened Iraq-Syria line runs from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and Aleppo in Syria. It runs along part of a more extensive network that connected Istanbul to Baghdad via Syria, which was constructed during the period of the Ottoman Empire.
Earlier this year, Mahmoud Hojjati, the Iranian minister of roads and transport said that Iran is ready to link its railway to Iraqi railway network, in order to provide Iraq with access to the Iranian ports. ¯ (Albawaba-MEBG)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
