MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): After some repair works, the Nayeb Abad train station situated on Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif railway line was reopened for use during a ceremony on Thursday.
A number of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials attended the ceremony including deputy prime minister for economic affairs Maulvi Abdul Ghani Baradar, acting public works minister Mohammad Esa Sani and Uzbekistan’s special envoy Esmatullah Ergashev.
Afghanistan’s geostrategic location makes it a main connection point among the regional countries and the government is trying to explore more alternative routes for the connectivity of the countries, Baradar said.
Such railway-stations and routes are considered the most important basics for regional connectivity and will further develop Afghanistan and Uzbekistan trade ties, he added.
The inauguration of the Nayeb Abad station further shortened the distance by 50 kilometers and traders now could send and receive their commercial goods at this station, Baradar explained.
While addressing the ceremony, acting minister Mohammad Esa Sani said: “It is a moment of pleasure for me to see the opening of Mazar-i-Sharif-Hairatan railway station and it is a significant step to promote trade.”
“This railway line will be further extended west to Jawzjan, Faryab, Herat, Nimroz provinces and then connected to Iran and on the other side it will be extended south to Samangan, Baghlan, Bamyan, Maidan Wardak, Kabul, Laghman, Nangarhar and then connected to Pashawar, Sani added.
Esmatullah Ergashev also expressed his support to Afghanistan and said this country was a good connection point among countries of the region.
He said that Afghanistan and Uzbekistan shared more cultural, religious and economic commonalities and his country wanted to build a religious seminary to be named after Emam Bukhari in Mazar-i-Sharif city.
The Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif railway is 75 kilometer long and its repair works were launched last year with a cost of $6.3 million and today the Nayeb Abad station was opened for use which was a part of the whole project.
aw/ma
