MAZAR-I-SHARIF: Work on railway line to begin soon: Officials from Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have agreed to launch construction work on a 75-kilometre railway line, linking Mazar-i-Sharif with the Hairatan dry port.
An agreement to the effect was reached at talks between the two sides on January 16.
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The construction of another railway line — linking the airport in Mazar-i-Sharif to Dara-i-Sauf district of neighbouring Samangan province — would be launched in the second phase, he revealed.[more]
Source: South Asian Outlook quoting Pajhwok Afghan News, 2010-02-??
Having the new line come south from Hairatan, then splitting into a western branch going to the airport at Mazar-i-Sharif and an eastern branch going to Kholm, makes a lot of sense. The addition of such an eastern branch would add about 40 km to the project and would be built over fairly easy terrain. The branch to Kholm would be part of the proposed line from Herat to Tajikistan that is currently under study.
Going south from Kholm into Samangan province would be much more difficult. It is a project that has not been considered in any other report that I know of.