I have had a few enquiries about the state of progress with construction of the Iranian-backed railway extension from Khaf to Islam Qala and Herat.
Does anyone know anything about the status of the project? How much – if any – construction has actually been completed? If you know anything, please let me know! Even just a report of a glimpse of construction works out of an aircraft window would be something.
View Iran – Herat railway in a larger map
The Stichting Samenwerking Afghanistan – Nederland website has some information about the 1920s plan for a rail network in Afghanistan.
Here is an attempt at translating the relevant bit, via Google Translate with some hand-editing.
King Amanullah gave German architects permission to build the new royal palaces, a number of factories and a small railway in Kabul. Later in 1928 the king asked a German railway commission headed by Berlin company Allgemeine Baugesellschaft Lenz & Co to lay a railway between Kabul, British India, Iran and the Soviet Union. This company sent Dutch engineer Adrianus van Lutsenburg Maas to Afghanistan in 1928 for construction of the railway.
Adrianus van Lutsenburg Maas worked in Afghanistan between 1928-29 as an engineer with the German company. The project failed owing to a nationwide revolt, and van Lutsenburg left Afghanistan in 1929. While in Afghanistan he kept diaries, wrote letters and took photographs of everything.
Source: Geschiedenis, Stichting Samenwerking Afghanistan – Nederland
The article (in Dutch) also has some modern photos of the locomotives at the museum in Kabul.
Presumably this listing at The Genealogy Page of Jorge Heredia and Heleen Sittig at Rootsweb is the man in question: Engineer, born 20 Dec 1893, Dantumadeel, died 10 Apr 1979, Den Haag. His material appears to be in the Netherlands’ Nationaal Archief.
Images of the Afghanistan railway at Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. 02/12/2010 by Zabi Rashidi at Demotix.
“An Afghan train worker explains the workings of a conductor board to the Afghan Minister of Finance in Hairaten, Afghanistan Dec. 6. The new train track is more than 75 kms long and provides hundereds of jobs to local Afghans.” (Photo by Army Sgt. Michael Reinsch, IJC Public Affairs)
A couple of ISAF stories via the US DVIDS website. The first one seems to come in two versions, one calling the railway “recently constructed” and attributing the funding to “BMZ, a German international assistance organization and Uzbekistan contractors.” The other verison says “under construction” and correctly attributes the funding to ADB, so I’ll quote that one:
New railroad increases trade in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan – A railroad, under construction from the border of Uzbekistan to just beyond Mazar-e-Sharif [My understanding was that it stops short of the city?] in northern Afghanistan, is expected to see an increase in utilization by several organizations and traders upon its completion.
Last week, Afghan officials, international aid representatives and International Security Assistance Forces visited Hairaten to look at the railroad along the border-crossing to ensure that the railroad is being used and implemented to benefit the people of the area.
“Hairaten is the only border-crossing with a railroad in Afghanistan,” said Kerry A. Powell, director, ISAF Joint Command Commanders Emergency Response Program. [what about Towraghondi?] “It does facilitate and it does allow some level of competition because they have another built up border other than the one to Pakistan; it gives them options.”
The track is more than 46 miles (75 kilometers) long and stretches from the bridge connecting Uzbekistan to Afghanistan through Hairaten to Mazar-e Sharif. It cost more than $170 million to build the track, which was largely funded by the Asian Development Bank.
“These kinds of projects bring regional development to Afghanistan,” said Johan Vosloo, project security manager. “More trade and more activity will be brought across the border. With future developments, maybe an expansion of development to the east and west will happen.”
The track will also be used to transport construction material to several major projects in and around Mazar-e Sharif, including the Mazar-e Sharif International Airport.
There are plans to continue the rail system to Herat and to eastern Afghanistan. The track and stations employ hundreds of Afghans to operate it and keep it secure.
Source: ISAF Joint Command, 2010-12-09
Also of interest:
New northern international airport to boost Afghan economy
KABUL, Afghanistan – A new international airport in Mazar-e Sharif is scheduled to be complete in January 2012 and will assist with trade and transporting goods throughout Afghanistan.
More than 300,000 people live in the vicinity of Mazar-e Sharif and people will reap the benefits of being able to transport their goods throughout the country.
“It is an economic center for Afghanistan,” said Thomas Herzberg, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank representative and project coordinator. “This airport is a great way of increasing economic trade for the Afghan people. From north to east Afghanistan, it is the center point for more than four million people.”
Currently, the airport is host to more than 100,000 passengers per year and is projected to host more than 400,000 after the construction is complete.
Construction of the airport is employing hundreds of local Afghans to lay foundation, construct more than five buildings and maintain the airport. A new terminal, repairs to the old terminal, a security building and a fire response building are some of the projected projects.
The airport is designed not only for passengers, but also to work in conjunction with the new rail system located a couple of miles away, that was recently built to support economic growth. The new railway is bringing in construction supplies to the airport.
“The airport, together with the rail way station, will bring a real economic boost to Mazar-e-Sharif,” Herzberg said. “All around the airport people can see that trade centers are building up. This just goes to show what kind of positive impact this has on northern Afghanistan.”
The decision to build the airport was made in 2008 and is part of a development project to bring five international airports to Afghanistan.
Source: ISAF Joint Command, 2010-12-09
This is the first suggestion of a station I’ve seen, unless it means a freight facility and has got lost in translation. How long will it be before Ryanair advertises flights to “Tashkent (Mazar-i-Sharif) airport”…
“A train waits to move on the new train track between the Afghanistan border and Mazar-e-Sharif Dec. 6.”
“A train rests on the new track built from the border of Uzbekistan to just beyond Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan Dec. 5. The new track is more than 75 kms long and provides Afghan traders the means of importing and exporting goods.”
(Photos by Army Sgt. Michael Reinsch, IJC Public Affairs)
FM: Turkmenistan helps Afghanistan to integrate into world economic system
Turkmenistan is helping Afghanistan to integrate into the global system of economic relations by developing its transport and communications infrastructure, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said.
…
The ministry added that Turkmenistan plans to construct a new railway on its territory along the border with Afghanistan. The railway could be further extended into Afghanistan to facilitate the country’s regional and interregional cooperation.
The two-kilometer “Serhetabat-Turgundi” railway line has operated for three years. The line was reconstructed by Turkmen specialists.
Turkmenistan has also made a proposal to build the “Atamurat-Imamnazar-Andkhoy” railway route, with a further extension through Afghanistan. The abovementioned infrastructure will increase the amount of available trans-border cargo flow and goods transport.
[More]
Source: Trend, 2010-12-07
Australian professional engineering and development consultancy SMEC International Pty Ltd describes its work in Afghanistan, where it has operated since 1993. It is currently involved with the Hayrartan to Mazar-i-Sharif construction project.
This Asian Development Bank funded project involves construction of a railway line between the towns of Hairatan (located on Afghanistan’s border with Uzbekistan) and Mazar-e-Sharif (in northern Afghanistan). The 75km railway line is under construction by Uzbek Railway through a Design and Build contract. The line will save transport costs and freight time for commodities (such as fuel) and general cargo. The project is of strategic importance; it is the first phase of a proposed national rail network across Afghanistan. The network will provide transport links to Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and will substantially improve regional and international connectivity. SMEC is providing design review, procurement and construction supervision services including: review of detailed designs and subsequent approvals, procurement of civil works and materials, construction supervision including on-the-job training in engineering and project management for client staff, installation and testing of equipment and machinery, commissioning of all machinery and parts and issuance of safety certification and safety authorisations for infrastructure managers.
Source: SMEC
A somewhat pessimistic view…
Iran-Afghanistan railway ‘on agenda’
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tuesday that the construction of a railway between the Iranian city of Khaf and the Afghan city of Herat was being discussed, according to the Tehran-based Press TV.
….
Tehran faces many difficulties in extending this railway farther than Herat, said Zhou Rong, an Islamabad-based researcher on Central and South Asian issues.
“Afghanistan is still at war, and if this railway is extended to Tajikistan, it must run through the Pashtun areas controlled by the anti-Iran Taliban,” Zhou said. “The security costs would be very high.”
It’s no more than a “political will” to build a railway to link Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Zhou said, adding that the idea is “not viable, economically or technically.”
Source: Global Times, 2010-11-17
An OJEU notice.
09/11/2010 S217 External aid programmes – Service contract – Prior Information Notice – Prior information or periodic indicative notice
AF-Kabul: DCI — technical assistance to the National Railway Authority in Afghanistan
2010/S 217-331687
Location: Asia — Afghanistan
Contract forecast notice
Services
Common procurement vocabulary (CPV):
Main object:
71356200 Technical assistance services
Additional object(s):
79314000 Feasibility study
1.Publication reference:EuropeAid/130690/C/SER/AF.2.Procedure:Restricted.3.Programme:DCI.4.Financing:Financing agreement.5.Contracting authority:European Union, represented by the European Commission, on behalf of and for the account of the beneficiary countries, Kabul, AFGHANISTAN.6.Nature of contract:Fee-based.7.Contract description:The forecast service contract aims to provide technical assistance to the Government of Afghanistan in order to:
1) help establish a National Railway Authority;
2) provide support to capacity building;
3) provide assessment of country-wide railway feasibility;
4) provide assessment of country-specific technical issues (e.g. gauge).
The most important criteria for contracting an expert team will be proven expertise in the areas of:
— institutional building,
— capacity building,
— transport economics, and
— railway engineering.
The indicative duration of the service contract will be 30 months and the team will be based in Kabul (Afghanistan), working closely with the involved ministries, governmental agencies and international donors. Coordination with the neighbour countries will be channelled via the Secretariat for Regional Cooperation.8.Numbers and titles of lots:The contract is divided into lots:
No, 1 lot only.9.Budget:Maximum budget: 1 550 000 EUR.10.Intended timing of publication of procurement notice:December 2010.11.Additional information12.Legal basis:DCI-ASIE.13.Date of dispatch of this notice:27.10.2010.
Remarks:There must be a minimum period of 30 calendar days between the publication of this contract forecast and the publication of the corresponding procurement notice.
No applications or requests for information should be sent at this stage.
The Iranian-backed railway from Khaf in Iran to the Afghan city of Herat will open “in the near future”, reports Iranian news agency Fars. Unfortunately there is no definition of “near future”!
A previous report earlier this year suggested that a lot of work was still required within Afghan territory. Does anyone know the current situation?
Iran to Inaugurate Transit Railway with Afghanistan Soon
A senior Iranian legislator announced on Saturday [30 October 2010] that the country plans to inaugurate a transit railway line linking Iran’s eastern parts to the western regions in Afghanistan in the near future in a move to facilitate transfer of goods and cargos between the two neighboring countries.
“The transit line which will link Torbat Heidariyeh (in Northeastern Iran) to Herat (in Western Afghanistan) will start operation soon and it is due to be extended to Iran’s Southern-most port city of Chabahar (on the rims of the Persian Gulf),” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Ali Rezaee told FNA.
[More...]
Source: Fars News Agency, 2010-10-30
Megha Bahree of Forbes interviews Afghanistan’s Minister of Mines, Wahidullah Shahrani, about mining projects. The article includes this about the next phase of the railway plans:
Shahrani: Right now we have up the railway line from Uzbekistan to Mazar-i-Sharif, which is a big commercial center. This 75 km long railway line cost $175 million and was funded by the ADB. Next phase will be from Afghanistan to the Turkmenistan border. This is 257kms and will take three years and we expect the tenders out by early next year. Apart from this, MCC is also constructing a 921km long railway line that will link Kabul with Turkmenistan, Pakistan, central highland to Mazar-i-sharif.
Source: In The Shadow Of The Taliban, Afghanistan’s Mining Sector Is Open For Business, Megha Bahree, Forbes, 2010-10-21
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