Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Dec. 14 / Trend H. Hasanov /
The construction of the Turkmen section of the international railway "Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran" - Bereket Gyzylgaya-Serhetyak branch, has been completed, the newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported today.
The length of this section is 444 kilometers. Specialists from the Turkmen Ministry of Railway Transport are replacing 25-meter with 700-meter permanent ways, as well as laying second tracks at all seventeen new stations on the road, the article said.
Structures will be built at three stations; in particular, the first of them rises to the station Serhetyak. Buildings for border and customs services are being built. The process of electrifying this section of the railroad has started.
Turkmenistan said that routes to the border of Kazakhstan will greatly facilitate the movement of goods and commodities in the vast expanses of Russia, Kazakhstan and in Belarus. Moreover, the new road will reduce the route to the Persian Gulf by more than 700 kilometers.
According to preliminary forecasts, 3.5 million tons of cargo a year will be initially transported. Volume will increase to 10-12 million tons in the future.