[LifeStyle] Iraq: Completion of designs for the commercial railway line between Basra and Turkey at a cost of $17 billion

[Guest High King Eslam]

Today, Wednesday, the Director General of the Iraqi Railways Company, Yunis Khaled, announced the completion of the designs for the construction of a railway line between the city of Basra overlooking the waters of the Arabian Gulf in southern Iraq, to the Turkish lands in the north, within the framework of the recent Iraqi-Turkish agreement, to establish a commercial development road between the two countries. .

On the twenty-first of last March, Iraq and Turkey agreed on a package of trade and economic agreements between the two countries, during a visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani to Ankara.

One of the most prominent of these understandings was the link between the ports of Basra on the waters of the Arabian Gulf in the far south of Iraq and the Turkish lands, by a double land road to facilitate commercial transport, considering Iraq as a linking area between the Arabian Gulf and Turkey, and from there to the European continent.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed, during a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, in Ankara, a project for a “road and rail transport corridor extending from Basra to the Turkish border,” pointing out that “the relevant ministers will work in this regard. And we have taken a decisive step that shows our willingness to work together to achieve this goal.”

The Turkish president called the project the “road of development,” considering it “a project of high strategic importance, not only for Turkey and Iraq, but for the entire region,” explaining that “millions of people in a wide geographical area from Europe to the Gulf will benefit from the added value that will emerge from create this path.”

And Erdogan indicated that “other brotherly countries are also interested in this thing,” noting that “this will enhance regional cooperation, develop our trade, and at the same time strengthen our human relations in this region.”

Today, Wednesday, the Director General of the Iraqi Railways Company, Yunus Khaled, said in statements to reporters that the map of the Iraq-Turkey railway has been completed, which starts from Al-Faw in Basra in southern Iraq and enters Turkish lands, passing through the Iraqi Kurdistan region in the north of the country. And that 15 giant companies will work to extend this railway.

 

Khaled added, "Iraq will reap four billion dollars in customs revenues and transportation fees that will be secured by this line, in addition to 750 million dollars in passenger transportation, and" this project will be a turning point for Iraq, and it will become an alternative to oil.

And the Iraqi official stated that “the line starts from the city of Al-Faw and passes through ten Iraqi governorates before reaching Turkey.” He stated that “the cost of the project is 17 billion dollars, of which 10.5 billion dollars is the cost of purchasing advanced electric trains, and 6.5 billion dollars is the cost of extending the railway.” which is 1200 km long.

The Director General of the Iraqi Railway Company confirmed that “the project is large and strategic, and it is one of the largest projects in Iraq, and it will turn Iraq into an important logistical center,” announcing that the project will be completed in 2028.

And at the beginning of this month, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani, renewed his country's progress in the promising Iraqi-Turkish project. Between Iraq and Turkey.

Iraq relies on the trade route to revive its commercial and economic sector and to provide thousands of job opportunities inside Iraq.

It is scheduled that the commercial route that will transport the goods arriving at the ports of Iraq on the waters of the Arabian Gulf in Basra and Faw, to Turkey by land, will pass through the governorates of Basra, then Dhi Qar, Qadisiyah, and Wasit, then towards the capital, Baghdad, and from there to Salah al-Din, Kirkuk and Nineveh, all the way to the Iraqi-Turkish-Syrian triangle. From the side of Fish Khabur area. The expected time to travel, if the road is completed, is between 12 and 16 hours.

Source: The New Arab

https://www.i3lam-al3arab.com/العراق-اكتمال-تصاميم-خط-سكك-الحديد-الت/