Afghanistan-Iran-Turkey freight train set to launch soon, official says
Preparations are complete for the launch of the first commercial and transit train linking Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, with all necessary approvals secured in the three countries, the head of the Afghanistan Railway Development Consortium said. Mostafa Rezaei told IRNA on Tuesday that the train would run once a week without stops, departing from Herat and traveling via the Khaf railway and Iran’s rail network to the Razi border terminal in West Azerbaijan Province. It would then enter Turkey and travel through the city of Van to the Mediterranean port of Mersin. The locomotive will be Iranian and the wagons European, Rezaei said, adding that the consortium’s Iranian operations would manage the train’s movements. He said the service was expected to officially begin in the near future.
About 100,000 metric tons of goods are currently shipped to Afghanistan each month via the Khaf-Herat railway, Rezaei said.
According to IRNA, more than 1 million metric tons of export and transit goods were transported to Afghanistan along the route between the start of its official operations in February-March 2024 and the end of May 2026.
The Khaf-Herat railway connects Iran’s rail network to western Afghanistan and forms part of an east-west rail corridor linking China, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Europe.