The railway administrations of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have agreed to extend the contract for the operation and maintenance of the "Hairatan - Mazar-i-Sharif" railway, reports Gazeta.uz.
According to the existing contract, the operator of the railway branch will remain LLC Sogdiana Trans, a subsidiary of Uzbekistan Temir Yullari.
The Ministry of Public Works of Afghanistan announced the extension of the "agreement on the four-party railway-economic corridor between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China for 2025."
Mohammad Ashraf Hakshenas, an official representative of the ministry, stated that the Deputy Minister of Public Works of Afghanistan signed the agreement during his visit to Uzbekistan.
This corridor connects to the Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif railway after passing through China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
The ministry representative added that in 2024, 4,200 containers of goods were transported between Afghanistan and China via this railway corridor. Under the new agreement, the volume of transportation between the participating countries will increase.
From January 21 to 23, a meeting was held in Tashkent with an Afghan delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Public Works for Railway Affairs, Mahmadali Sohibzada.
Ilkhom Makhkamov (center), Chairman of the Board of Uzbekistan Temir Yullari, Zufar Narzullaev.
During the meeting with Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport, Ilkhom Makhkamov, the parties discussed accelerating the implementation of the Trans-Afghan Railway construction project.
In December 2022, the Afghan publication TOLOnews reported that a Kazakh company, Mansour Fatih, had been awarded the contract for servicing the "Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif" railway section. However, Uzbekistan refuted this information, stating that negotiations were still ongoing. In February 2023, the parties signed a new agreement.
In August of last year, the Naibabad railway station was opened in Afghanistan. It, along with the Hairatan-Naibabad-Mazar-i-Sharif line, was restored by Uzbekistan Temir Yullari under a contract with the Afghan Railway Administration. During the opening ceremony, the first freight wagons arrived at the station.
Sogdiana Trans was established in December 2011 to operate and maintain the "Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif" railway line. Uzbekistan Temir Yullari completed the construction of the 75-kilometer line, valued at $129 million, in November 2010.
Approximately half of Afghanistan's imports and a significant portion of humanitarian goods pass through the "Hairatan" station.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
January 27, 2025