Mazar-Herat-Kandahar railway project to begin this year

KABUL (Pajhwok): Preliminary works on lying the 1468-kilometer long Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat-Kandahar railway line will be launched this solar year, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs office said on Monday.

The office on its twitter page said that the Economic Commission last solar year entrusted the committee concerned with the task to identify a large railroad project that could be completed from domestic revenue.

The commission and the committee jointly pointed out the economic and geographical importance of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat-Kandahar railway project.

The project will be completed in two phases, with the first phase (657km) starting from Mazar-i-Sharif to Herat and the second (811 km) long from Herat to Farah, Nimroz, Helmand and Kandahar’s Spin Boldak.

The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office for Economic Affairs said keeping in mind technical, economic studies, transit value and volume of revenues, practical work on the first phase will be launched in the current year.

The project includes 47-kilometer Khawaf-Herat railway line, 70-kilometer Andokhoi-Shiberghan project.

The railway line will connect Afghanistan to Iran’s Chabahar and Bandar Abbas, Pakistan’s Karachi and Gawadar ports.

It will connect Afghanistan from Iran to Turkey and European countries and East Asia and South Asia.

The project will connect sea ports and borders of Central Asia and Russia and become the shortest and most economical route through Afghanistan between Moscow and New Delhi.

The proposed railway line will pass through nine provinces, 37 districts and 800 villages.

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