I’ve had a bit of a computer failure. A new hard drive is now installed and hopefully things will be recoverable, but if anyone has e-mailed me in the past month or so and not had a reply, it might be worth re-sending.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Computer failure
Friday, January 15th, 2010Steam engine diplomacy
Thursday, January 14th, 2010The politics behind “Pakistan’s gift of a steam engine to UK in 1981 and the interesting story of this loco’s arrival in Manchester” at All Things Pakistan.
The Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester has a page on the loco, Vulcan Foundry 4-4-0 works no. 3064 of 1911, while The Vulcan Foundry Newton-le-Willows “electronic museum” has information on other Vulcan Foundry survivors.
Hayratan - Mazar-i-Sharif railway plan
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Arzu TV on 18 June, reported by BBC Monitoring South Asia, 2009-06-19.
Rail Road Project to Link North Afghanistan to Uzbekistan
[Presenter] After a short time, new rail road will be built from Uzbekistan to Hayratan border town and from Hayratan to Mazar-e Sharif city, says Minister of Commerce and Industries Wahidullah Shahrani in a meeting with Uzbek railway minister in Hayratan border town. Mr Shahrani said rail road’s designing and technical procedure had been started and will be completed in nine months. He added Asian Development Bank will donate 100m dollars for building the rail road and a logistic station in Mazar-e Sharif city and Uzbekistan will cooperate in its technical procedure.
[Correspondent] Minister of Commerce and Industries Wahidullah Shahrani visited Hayratan border town of Balkh Province to meet Uzbek minister of railway and speak about building a rail road between Uzbekistan and Mazar-e Sharif city. The minister said building a railway from Hayratan border town to Mazar-e Sharif city costs 80-120m dollars, its technical and designing procedure costing 1.2m dollars will be completed after nine months. The project is funded by Asian Development Bank.
[More]
The role of Pakistan’s railways
Sunday, June 7th, 2009Shahid Javed Burki considers how the role of railways in (what is now) Pakistan has changed over the years in a 12 May 2009 Dawn article For a new transport policy
It is always useful to reflect on history before planning for the future. I will illustrate this point today by using the case of the transport infrastructure. Three legacies must be recognised to deal with the situation as it exists today and for the adoption of a strategy that would serve the future.
Source: Dawn 2009-05-12
Third Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan
Sunday, May 17th, 2009Islamabad Declaration
The delegates participating in the Third Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan having met in Islamabad on 13 – 14 May 2009:
…NOTE THAT
Transport, Trade, Energy Cooperation, Agricultural Cooperation, Capacity Building and Education, Border Management, Health, Counter Narcotics and Refugee Return and Reintegration are areas with considerable scope for mutually beneficial regional cooperation.Connectivity: Increased trade in the region will be facilitated by affording Afghanistan easy accessibility to the Sea, developing east-west and north-south corridors on the basis of mutual agreement, and further developing infrastructure links with Afghanistan and its neighbours.
Railway connection between Iran and Herat is already on going on the basis of a grant from the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran.
An 80 km railway link from Hairatan (on the Uzbekistan border) to Mazar-e-Sharif is considered a priority route for development. The planned link forms part of CAREC’s Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy, and is in accordance with Afghanistan’s Railways Development Programme. The project will be developed with Asian Development Bank grant support.
…
HAVE DECIDED THAT
…
4. High priority will be accorded, in terms of resource allocation and political commitment to the following set of practical short-term projects of benefit to Afghanistan and the region:
a. Concluding negotiations of the Afghanistan Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement before the end of 2009, as agreed earlier this month in Washington, DC.
b. Extension of rail link from Chaman to Kandahar.
c. In addition, the European Commission will conduct a pre-feasibility study of railways across Afghanistan linking major destinations within Afghanistan and its neigbours.
…
Read in full on the Ministry of Foreign Affairswebsite.
(thanks to Michael G Erickson for sending me a link)
