ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Railways is seeking financing by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Trade and Development Bank of Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO)forinfrastructure projects along the Pakistani section of the IslamabadTehran-Istanbul route.

The projects were discussed at a meeting held here on Tuesday at the railways ministry.

ECO President Javed Aslam, Deputy Secretary General Ahsan Mangi, the secretary programming of the IDB and officials of Pakistan Railways (PR) attended the meeting.

One of the proposed projects was the restoration and upgrade of 612km Quetta-Taftan railway track, and Railways Minister Saad Rafiq termed the Quetta-Taftan section as an important section which can open a new era for Pakistan Railways.

The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul journey is about 6,506km with 1,900km in Pakistan, 2,570km in Iran and 2,036km in Turkey. This trade link has been established under the Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA) signed by the Economic Cooperation Organisation.

The freight train on the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul section is planned to be used for increasing Pakistani exports to Iran and Turkey. The freight train will be used to carry textile products, surgical equipment, sports goods, furniture and edible products westbound, with machinery and parts, chemical products, paper and paper products, automotive spare parts and agricultural implements going eastbound.

The Quetta-Taftan railway track, also referred as `Main Line 4` (ML-4) starts from Quetta and culminates at Koh-i-Taftan, and there are 23 railway stations between these two stations. The track then crosses into Iran and extends to Tehran.

In another meeting between Railways Minister Saad Rafiq and Director-General of Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, (NDRC) Li Xuedoung, matters relating to financing and implementation of the up-gradation of ML-1 were discussed. A delegation from Beijing-based National Railway Administration (NRA) was also present during the meeting.

The ML-I up-gradation plan joining Peshawar to Karachi forms a significant part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and it would benefit people, especially along the route, and contribute to economic and social development of Pakistan.

ML-I is a key priority on the working agenda and NDRC takes a complete view of the venture which is a huge up-gradation project, Mr Li Xuedoung said, adding that NDRC would make its due contribution to CPEC`s development which has seen positive progress over the past three years.

NDRC and NRA are helping Pakistan Railways in rehabilitation and improvement of existing track that will follow the existing alignment except at locations where sharp curves are to be eased out or eliminated to allow higher speed up to 140km per hour.

The Chinese delegation will inspect the tracks of sections of Lahore-Multan and Lahore-Rawalpindi.