Author: Andrew Grantham

Chaman – Spin Boldak railway construction reportedly begins

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Pakistan Railways has started work on a project to lay an 11 km railway line from Chaman to Spin Boldak in Afghanistan, SAMAA TV reported on 5 November 2021. “The construction material is being transported to the area to lay the track which will extend to the zero line, SAMAA TV‘s Saeed Achakzai reported on Friday. Pakistan Railways officials told SAMAA TV that the rails would soon be laid on the sleepers. The most recent effort to construct the Chaman-Spin Boldak line was launched last December when Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed announced the revival of the project.”

There is also some history, citing this website :-)

Hairatan freight trains restart

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The first freight train to cross from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan since the Taliban take over arrived in Hairatan on 1 September 2021, after 17 days of no service.

Rail freight from Turkmenistan continues

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan informs that the staff members of the diplomatic service and other state agencies of the country carry out regular contacts with the representatives of the “Taliban” movement on the issues of protection of state borders, provision of customs, sanitary, phytosanitary and other types of supervision and control implemented during the transportation of freights through the borders.

In this context, we note that the check-points on the Turkmen-Afghan border “Ymamnazar-Akina” and “Serhetabad-Torghundi” function in the regular mode and provide the passing of the necessary number of automobile trailers and railway wagons in accordance with the order agreed by both sides.

Press service of the MFA of Turkmenistan (undated, but between 15 and 18 August 2021)

Torghundi rail terminal in 1960

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

A photo of a page of an unknown bilingual book showing photos of the “railhead at Torghandi” and the construction of a “Torghundi-Kandahar concrete highway”. Someone has added “1960” to the electronic image; presumably the date of the book.

The railway across the Afghan border from the USSR (now Turkmenistan) might have been built as part of the USSR – Herat – Kandahar road project.

Anyone know the name of the book?

Chinese transit goods arrive at Hairatan

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The 1st shipment of Chinese commercial-transit goods arrives at Hairatan port

The 1st shipment of Chinese commercial and transit goods arrived at the commercial port of Hairatan on Sunday.

This shipment includes 51 containers of commercial-transit goods of the People’s Republic of China, which entered the country through the railway for the 1st time in the solar year.

The cargo was loaded from the Chinese city of Urumqi and the Afghan Cargo Company transited the shipment to Hairatan port.

Officials at the port say, the shipment includes electrical appliances, medicine and cosmetics, various types of clothes, toys, and other commercial goods, and the transfer of commercial goods from Hairatan port indicates an improvement in the country’s ports.

Afghanistan shares a 137-kilometer border with the Republic of Uzbekistan, where most of Afghanistan’s trade goods enter the country through the port of Hairatan. Hairatan port is one of the connecting points of the country with Central Asia.

Source: Ministry of Industry and Commerce, 15 July 2021

Consultancy services for detailed survey and design or Torghondi – Herat railway

Posted on by Andrew Grantham