Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 16
By Huseyn Hasanov– Trend:
Construction of a railway in Afghanistan by Turkmen specialists in order to assist in the development of the Torghundi station is underway in accordance with the plan, the Turkmen government said in a message Dec. 16 quoting the country’s Deputy Prime Minister for Transport and Communications Bayram Annameredov as saying at a government meeting.
In turn, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stated the country’s commitment to further intensify efforts to assist the economic development of Afghanistan and integration into regional and international infrastructure projects.
Construction project of a new railway line from the Turkmen station Serhetabat to the Afghan city of Torghundi was launched in late November on the basis of a memorandum of understanding signed by the railway authorities of the two countries.
Reportedly, the fundamental modernization of the railway line means that this section will be rebuilt completely at the expense of Turkmenistan’s own funds.
All this will allow increasing the capacity of the Torghundi station and will strengthen its importance for the trade turnover of Afghanistan, which has no access to the sea.
It is assumed that the railway lines and motorways will connect the city of Torghundi in the Afghan province of Herat with Ashgabat, then with the port of Turkmenbashi on the shore of the Caspian Sea. Further, the corridor will continue through the Caspian Sea to Baku, and then through Tbilisi to Ankara and Istanbul.