LAHORE - Spokesman Pakistan Railways has termed the statement of FPCCI published in an English daily as untrue, in which the Railways Department has been held responsible for the non-arrival of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) freight train at Istanbul.
Pakistan Railways is responsible for operations in the areas under its control. According to the agreement, the responsibility for customs clearance, loading, unloading, trans-shipment and related matters lie with the three companies, Haroon Brothers Pakistan, Rasan Rail Pars Iran and MFA Logistics Turkey. According to the spokesperson, four trains departed from Pakistan from December to March of this financial year, three of which reached the destination on time while the fourth train stopped at the Iran-Turkey border mainly due to a payment related dispute between Haroon Brothers and MFA Logistics. To resolve the issue, Pakistan Railways officials issued instructions to Haroon Brothers. The company sent their officials to Turkey and the matter was resolved after negotiations with the other party. The freight train is currently parked at Lake Van, from where it will be transported across the river by ferry boat. Since there is only one ferry boat on the Lake Van at the moment, this process will take three to four days to complete.
All issues related to train delays were decided at the 12th High Level Working Group meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), minutes of which will be released by the ECO Secretariat. The spokesman clarified that the delay in the arrival of the train was due to the imposition of additional charges by MFA Logistics, which is based in Turkey. In this regard, Pakistan Railways or any of its officials is not responsible.
However, in order to avoid such a situation in future, all freight forwarders have been instructed to proceed with the operation by signing a formal agreement with the freight forwarders of Turkey and Iran before booking.
Pakistan Railways is responsible for operations in the areas under its control. According to the agreement, the responsibility for customs clearance, loading, unloading, trans-shipment and related matters lie with the three companies, Haroon Brothers Pakistan, Rasan Rail Pars Iran and MFA Logistics Turkey. According to the spokesperson, four trains departed from Pakistan from December to March of this financial year, three of which reached the destination on time while the fourth train stopped at the Iran-Turkey border mainly due to a payment related dispute between Haroon Brothers and MFA Logistics. To resolve the issue, Pakistan Railways officials issued instructions to Haroon Brothers. The company sent their officials to Turkey and the matter was resolved after negotiations with the other party. The freight train is currently parked at Lake Van, from where it will be transported across the river by ferry boat. Since there is only one ferry boat on the Lake Van at the moment, this process will take three to four days to complete.
All issues related to train delays were decided at the 12th High Level Working Group meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), minutes of which will be released by the ECO Secretariat. The spokesman clarified that the delay in the arrival of the train was due to the imposition of additional charges by MFA Logistics, which is based in Turkey. In this regard, Pakistan Railways or any of its officials is not responsible.
However, in order to avoid such a situation in future, all freight forwarders have been instructed to proceed with the operation by signing a formal agreement with the freight forwarders of Turkey and Iran before booking.
