India is actively working with Asian countries to establish a railway network, starting from Dhaka (Bangladesh) to Istanbul (Turkey), covering eight countries, which is expected to give a big fillip to the economy of the region. The railway corridor will not be for passengers, but limited to movement of container trains with goods.

India already has connectivity with Bangladesh and Pakistan. But there is a proposal to extend this linkage to Istanbul (Turkey). This proposed “Trans-Asian Railway (TAR)” or the “ITI-DKD” (Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad; Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka) corridor will be 6,000 km long, covering Dhaka-Kolkata-Delhi-Amritsar-Lahore-Islamabad-Zahedan-Tehran- Istanbul. There is also a proposal to extend this corridor to Yangon (Myanmar). Thus, the “ITI-DKD-Y” corridor could become one of the major international rail corridors in the world.

Efforts are on to do a “demonstration run” this year itself, sources in the Ministry of Railways said. All the countries concerned have endorsed the idea and have said that the demonstration is technically feasible. It is to be noted that China, in January, had sent a container train to London via Germany, covering a distance of 12,000 km.

Besides, according to a Ministry official, India’s priority is also to develop connectivity between Kathmandu and New Delhi and Kathmandu and Kolkata. This is part of the Business Plan of 2017-18. “We are exploring connectivity with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. The Railways could provide viable alternatives to international cargo, making trade more competitive,” he said. The concept has got a boost after a long missing link of 150 km in Zahedan in Iran was recently established, connecting the country to the Pakistan Railway network on the border.

There is a plan to connect Nepal and Bhutan as well in future. Nepal can be connected via the existing and operational rail route of Birgunj, which is a border town in Parsa district of southern Nepal, to Kolkata. At present, Bhutan and Afghanistan do not have rail connectivity. But still, Bhutan can be connected to this corridor by linking it through a road route to Kolkata. Similary, Afghanistan can also be connected by road routes with the railway network either at Quetta or Islamabad.

India has started its efforts to make this network a possibility. A meeting was organised here recently by the United National Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) with the Ministry of Railways and Organisation for Co-operation between Railways, to deliberate on the concept and remove bottlenecks.

The international rail transport proposals of ESCAP under the Trans-Asian Railway network, including ITI and DKD rail corridor, is quite significant. This corridor could be further extended to Yangon to become the “ITI-DKD-Y” rail corridor. Thus, this corridor will cover eight countries. The meeting deliberated technical and operational aspects of this corridor proposal. The official said: “It was decided in the meeting to close the transport processes gaps through regional and international arrangements like ‘Regional Cooperation Framework for Facilitation of International Railway Transport’, adopted by the Asian countries.”

This framework could be a guiding document to help overcome operational challenges and non-physical barriers, especially where cross country rail infrastructure already exists.

Besides India, representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Iran, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey were also present in the meeting.

The meeting reviewed and identified innovating measures to strengthen cross-border railway transport within the region, which is one of the least connected and integrated regions of the world despite its vast contiguous landmass. Strengthening rail connectivity will boost economic growth, enhance trade and transport connectivity and improve lives in this region, it was felt.