LAHORE: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will inaugurate the first international container train from Pakistan to Turkey via Iran at Islamabad Railway station today, Friday August-14.

General Manager Pakistan Railways Saeed Akhtar said on Thursday that freight for the train has been obtained and it would depart at 4.00 pm.

The train being run under  Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), will consist of 20 containers with the capacity around 750 tons. He said the first container train is being operated on trial.

The train would reach Istanbul, Turkey in 15 days running for 104 hours in Pakistan, 127 hours in Iran and 135 hours in Turkey and  would provide a link to Europe and central Asian states.
 
He said matters pertaining to various technical issues,tariff,customs etc have already been sorted out by the three countries.
 
As Islamabad is not the trade centre of the country, the container train on regular basis would be run from Lahore or Faisalabad, he added.