Uzbekistan , Tashkent, Aug. 30 /Trend, D.Azizov/
Uzbekistan plans to attract loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) totaling $520 million for the electrification of three railway sections, Uzbekistan Railways Chairman Achilbay Ramatov told reporters on Tuesday.
He said these projects will help organize the movement of high-speed trains to the cities of Bukhara and Karshi. Loan funds will be spent on the electrification of the railways Marokand-Karshi, Karshi-Termez and Marokand-Navoi-Bukhara.
The electrification project is expected to complete by the end of 2015.
According to the data provided by Uzbekistan Railways, the Marokand-Karshi section is 140 km in length, the cost of its electrification - $168.8 million, Karshi-Termez - 325 km ($348.8 million), Marokand-Navoi-Bukhara - 250 km ($443 9 million).
In addition to foreign loans, these projects will also be funded by Uzbekistan Railways. After the implementation of these projects, the share of the electrified sections in the total length of the railways in Uzbekistan will increase from 36 percent to 42 percent by 2015.