Friday, March 21, 2025
After a five-year suspension, Iran and Turkey are resuming train travel between Tehran and Van. It has not been clear why the train service was halted in 2019, and it isn’t explained why it is now being resumed.
The train service was suspended in 2019 only shortly after it started up. The trains will operate twice a week in each direction, with the trip consuming 22 hours.
Trains cannot continue passed Van because the rail line ends on the edge of Lake Van. Talk about building a line around the lake to join up with Turkish lines to Ankara and Istanbul have been discussed for decades, but nothing substantive has ever happen.