Iraq Sets A Date To Launch Rail Network Project With Turkey

The project will link the Southern Faw Port with the Port of Mersin at the Turkish border

According to the official news agency, Iraq has announced a launch date for the multi-billion-dollar rail network project linking its southern Grand Faw Port, estimated to cost more than $19.7bn (AED72.3bn) and be completed by 2038, with Turkey’s Port of Mersin. Part of the Development Road project, work on the rail and motorway will commence in early 2024, as an Italian company has completed and submitted a feasibility study to the Transport Ministry.

Maytham AlSafi, Director of the Transport Ministry, said that the rail and road will go through nine Iraqi provinces, and that it will link Faw Port with the nearby Umm Qasr Port.

Officials have pointed out that “the transport system that will be used in the project is the European system with the aim of continuing the movement of international trains without stopping, taking into account the issue of pilgrimages.” Furthermore, they explained that the project comprises a dual rail line for freight and passenger trains and a 1,190 km motorway for cargo trucks. “The roads will be monitored, as well as special rest areas for passengers and others for loading and unloading,” the Iraqi News Agency quoted.

The freight train will have an initial capacity of 3.5 million containers and 22 million tonnes of bulk cargo per year, to be raised in phases to 7.5 million containers and 33 million tonnes annually. The high-speed passenger train has an initial capacity of 13.8 million passengers per year.