Railways of Afghanistan

Previous page: Soviet rail extensions across the border

Foreign advice

In 1992 plans were announced for Pakistan Railways engineers to survey a possible 800 km route from Pakistan to Tajikistan, via Jalalabad and Kabul.¹ PR’s General Manager was reported in the newspaper Dawn as saying it was in Pakistan’s national interest to establish links with the recently independent central Asia republics via Afghanistan rather than via Iran.

In 1999 the Bakhtar news agency in Kabul² told the BBC that a Canadian team had held talks in Kabul with the Construction Minister and other officials regarding the construction of airports, roads, and railways. Bakhtar’s Muhammad Naeem said a Canadian team would carry out a survey and feasibility study.

Re-opening for aid

On 9 December 2001 Uzbekistan re-opened the Friendship Bridge across the River Amu-Darya, following talks between US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Uzbek President Islam Karimov.³ On 8 December 2001 Colin Powell told reporters the bridge "will ease the humanitarian situation considerably".

The bridge forms the only land link between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, and President Karimov was reported to be reluctant to reopen it owing to worries about incursions by fleeing Afghan combatants. Uzbekistan’s border with Afghanistan is protected with mines and electric fences, and it had been reported that the Afghan side of the Friendship Bridge was mined, but US military engineers found it to be safe for use.

A train with about 15 vans of flour entered Afghanistan on 9 December 2001.⁴ The locomotive used for the aid train was 3199, a Class TEM1 Co-Co. This class was developed from 1958, based on Alco designs supplied to the USSR in 1944-45.

Plans revived

Proposals to revive the 1970s railway schemes were put forward at the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan held in Tokyo in January 2002.⁵

The 1810 km railway network would start at the Iranian border near Herat (presumably Islam Qala), with a line running to Kandahar. From Kandahar it would turn north into the mountains, passing copper mines in Logar province to reach Kabul. A branch would serve iron ore mines northwest of Kabul near Bamiyan. From Kandahar a branch would run to Chaman, linking with the Pakistan Railways network.⁶

"We can’t say what it would cost now because we haven’t done an up to date feasibility study yet" Afghanistan’s Deputy Planning Minster Abdul Salam told Reuters. "The world is coming together now and we want to be part of this world".

Next page: Iran to Herat

References