Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan conclude Trans-Afghan Railway negotiations

By Muzaffar Ismailov in Tashkent July 18, 2023

Tripartite negotiations for the planned Trans-Afghan Railway between Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan have concluded, Uzbek Railways has announced.

If realised, the project could greatly boost trade between Central Asia and South Asia, but prevailing security concerns centred on Afghanistan tend to get in the way of major infrastructure projects aimed at linking the two regions via the conflict-torn country. 

The three-nation discussions revolved around securing financing, construction aspects, technical aspects and implementation timelines. All parties involved expressed a strong interest and willingness to engage in this mutually beneficial cooperation, said Uzbek Railways.

The railway project was first proposed in December 2018 by Uzbekistan. The railroad would link Mazar-e-Sharif, a city in Afghanistan located near the Uzbek border, to Kabul and Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, from where it would run across the Torkham border into Pakistan at Peshawar.

The rail line would have a planned capacity of up to 20mn tonnes of cargo per annum. Once operational it would slash the travel time for goods transiting from Uzbekistan to Pakistan from 35 days to just three to five days. 

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