New passenger rail service connects Turkey and Iran

TEHRAN

A new passenger rail service rolled out between Turkey and Iran on Monday, according to Iran's news agency.

The train which departed from Tehran at 9:30 a.m., is scheduled to arrive in eastern Turkish city of Van on Tuesday morning.

The train will stop midway at Tabriz, the capital city of East Azerbaijan province, in northwestern Iran, Muhammed Recebi, general director of Iran's Railway Transportation Company told Iranian Tasnim news agency. The train will depart for Tehran on the same day at 9 p.m from Van.

The train will operate once a week from Tehran to Van, and vice versa.

Rail passenger service between the two countries was halted in 2015, following attacks by PKK terrorist organization. It was restored on the Van-Tabriz line last year.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children.

Earlier this month, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Saeed Rasouli said that the train services are key factors to develop tourism between Iran and Turkey.

*Writing by Faruk Zorlu