Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 7
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
Some 228 kilometers of the Bereket-Etrek (Turkmenistan-Iran) railway, which is a part of North-South international transport corridor, has been constructed, Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister , Satlyk Satlykov said at a final government meeting, according to a message from the government of Turkmenistan.
"To date, some 228 kilometers of the Bereket-Etrek railway which is a part of the North-South international transport corridor has been constructed, according to the deputy prime minister. Construction work on building tens of engineering structures, stations and residential buildings is underway," the message from the Turkmen government said.
Earlier it was reported that 300 kilometers of the railway line of is to be commissioned in October 2014. This term was set by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers in early 2014.
The North-South project is being implemented on the basis of an agreement signed by Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakhstan in 2007. A project on connecting the railways at the Kazakh-Turkmen border was commissioned in May 2013. At this stage, work is underway in sections of Iran and Turkmenistan.
This regional project will open a way for European and Asian countries to Central Asia and the Gulf region.
Up to 3-5 million tons of cargo per year will be initially transported via this route. The volumes will increase to 10-12 million tons in the future, according to the preliminary estimates. The project was implemented with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
Turkmenistan borders with Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan onshore and Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran offshore.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.