Abbasi leaves for Türkiye to boost Pakistan-Türkiye railways cooperation

ISLAMABAD, Jul 29 (APP):Minister for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi on Wednesday departed for a two-day official visit to Türkiye aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation in the railways, transport and infrastructure sectors.

During the visit, the minister will hold an important meeting with Türkiye’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure to discuss avenues for enhancing collaboration in railway development, transport connectivity and infrastructure projects between the two countries.

The two ministers will also co-chair a high-level meeting of their respective delegations to review prospects for joint projects, strategic partnerships and expanded technical cooperation.

As part of the visit, Abbasi will inspect Türkiye’s advanced railway monitoring, operational control and safety systems, besides visiting modern railway technology centres and coach and locomotive manufacturing facilities.

The discussions will focus on cooperation in modern railway technology, signalling, digitalisation and infrastructure development, with the objective of incorporating international best practices into Pakistan Railways.

The visit is also expected to explore opportunities for technology transfer, investment by Turkish companies in Pakistan Railways’ development projects, and collaboration in coach manufacturing, locomotive production and railway engineering to enhance Pakistan’s local manufacturing capacity.

The minister will review Türkiye’s modern urban and high-speed rail systems to assess their potential applicability in Pakistan as part of the government’s drive to modernise the country’s railway network.

Officials said the visit would further support the government’s vision of transforming Pakistan Railways into a modern, safe, efficient and passenger-friendly transport system in line with international standards through greater cooperation with Türkiye.