Hairatan Railway Line generates 5.2b afs revenue

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The Hairatan railway line in northern Balkh generated 5.2 billion afghanis revenue during the past 10 months, showing a 23 percent increase, an official said on Sunday.

Balkh Railway Authority director Maulvi Mohammad Shafiq Mahmood told Pajhwok Afghan News the Hairatan railway line earned 12 million afghanis daily.

Shipments on the Galaba/Hairatan – Mazar-i-Sharif line generated 5.2 billion afghanis revenues during the last 10 months compared to one billion and 850 million afghanis revenue in the first 10 months of last year, registering a 32 percent increase.

Meanwhile, economic experts and traders called the railroads as the safest, fastest and cheapest transportation system for transportation of commercial goods.

Economic affairs analyst Abdul Naseer said railway lines had great importance for landlocked Afghanistan and were the safest and fastest means of transportation.

He believed Afghanistan’s minerals could not be extracted due to lack of roads and railways and if the railroads were expanded, Afghanistan would become self-sufficient.

Balkh Chamber of Commerce and Investment head Ahmad Shakeeb Akbari said the railway lines had created facilities for Afghans, especially for businessmen of Balkh.

Haji Qalandar Rahimi, a local businessman, said railways were the second largest means of transportation in the world after sea routes to transport goods and passengers.

He said currently railway lines in Afghanistan reached only the ports and if these lines were extended nationwide, many facilities would be created for trade and investment.

The 75-km Hairatan Railway Line connects Uzbekistan with Mazar-i-Sharif city and has 31 kilometers of auxiliary lines.

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