ASHKHABAD Director general of Khorasan Province Railway Company said that this year Almaty-Tehran passenger train service will begin along the ancient silk road via Sarakhs.

Mohammad-Ali Hojjati-Nejad, speaking to IRNA Saturday on the eve of the inauguration anniversary of Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tajan railway track, said that agreement to commission the train service was reached at last year's meeting of the ECO member states.

He added Tehran-Almaty train will cross the republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and will return to Tehran via Sarakhs in northeastern Province of Khorasan.

He said that Islamic Republic of Iran's Railway Company has informed Turkmenistan Railway Company of its preparedness to commission the train service.

He added that the cargo capacity of Mashhad-Sarakhs railway is three million tons per year, which will be raised to its nominal capacity of eight million tons, by putting into operation the Bafq-Mashhad railway route.

He added that one passenger train shuffle between Mashhad and Sarakhs per day, transferring 250 passengers.