Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 1
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbekistan is actively exploring the possibilities for implementing the project for the construction of the railway corridor Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat, Uzbek media reported.
The implementation of this project will provide work for 30,000 Afghans, will allow Kabul to annually make profits from transit in the amount of $400-500 million.
According to preliminary data, the implementation of this project will increase the trade turnover of Afghanistan by about 50 percent, as well as provide an opportunity to ensure access to promising markets in Afghanistan and the countries of Central and South Asia in almost all directions.
As for the loading of this road, then, according to experts, in the first years it could be about 5 million tons, and later this figure could increase to 15 million tons. The length of the new line will be about 2,000 kilometers.
The total cost of the project, which will allow the creation of a railway analogue of the Trans-Afghan road corridor from Europe with access to India, China, Iran and Pakistan, is about $3 billion.
Uzbekistan launched the 75-km-long railway in Afghanistan on the Hairaton–Mazar-i-Sharif section in 2010.
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