Shrink the Gap with rail

ARTICLE:
Pakistan-Turkey rail trial starts, BBC, 14 August 2009

Underlines the reality that Turkey is deeply interested in tapping emerging middle-class markets in Iran and Pakistan.

(Thanks: jarrod myrick)

Comments

[David Emery]

The first train is a -container train-, which if you think about it, moves cargo from the Turkish ports (Istanbul, Izmir, etc), bypassing the Suez Canal, to Southeast Asia (Iran, Pakistan, maybe even India if those two patch things up more). This bypasses the Suez Canal (and the Horn of Africa piracy problem.)

So I think this line will serve as a 'bridge line' more than it will serve locally generated traffic. Still, it does open up local manufacturing possibilities in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.

Sure wish they were selling stock in this railroad! :-)

[Louis Heberlein]

Of course there will be panic/despair Internet news when terrorists blow up a few yards of tracks.