ADB

US ambassador at Hayratan

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Hairatan Rail Line
U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry joined the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Minister of Finance, Minister of Mines, Minister of Transportation and Civil Aviation, and fellow Ambassadors from Japan, Finland, and Uzbekistan at a ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the Hairatan Rail Line. Hairatan is located in the Balk Provience. This rail link is the first phase of a larger rail network planned for the country, including links to Herat, Tajikistan and Pakistan, and improves connectivity and increase trade throughout the region, supporting growth and cutting poverty.
Source: American Embassy Kabul on Flickr

May 25, 2010: U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry Remarks at Hairatan Rail Line Ceremony

On May 25, U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry joined the president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Minister of Finance, Minister of Mines, Minister of Transportation and Civil Aviation, and fellow Ambassadors from Japan, Finland, and Uzbekistan at a ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the Hairatan Rail Line. The United States and Japan are the two largest shareholders in ADB. An ADB grant supports the construction of a 75 km railway line between Hairatan, on the border with Uzbekistan, and Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan’s second largest commercial center. The project will also upgrade Hairatan station yard, build a transshipment terminal, and prepare a railway sector plan. ADB’s grant covers 97% of the total project cost of $170 million, with the Government contributing $5 million. This rail link is the first phase of a larger rail network planned for the country, including links to Herat, Tajikistan and Pakistan, and improves connectivity and increase trade throughout the region, supporting growth and cutting poverty. The new rail line will help remove the major physical bottlenecks that have formed at the border, thereby quadrupling capacity and boosting regional trade.

The Ambassador’s remark’s at the ceremony inaugurating the rail line follow:

Remarks to ADB Ceremony Audience

• Thank you Governor Atta, President Kuroda, and Ministers Zakhilwal and Shahrani.

• The United States and Japan are the two largest shareholders in the Asian Development Bank. We, along with other ADB member nations represented here today have followed this Hairatan Rail Project grant funding closely from its genesis and have supported it strongly via our representation on the ADB’s Board of Directors.

• I am very pleased to see the project reach this point, with construction begun and an end-date planned in advance of the December 2010 completion target. It is my sincere hope to return to Balkh province with President Karzai and others on this stage soon to celebrate the completion of this signature infrastructure project.

• The United States, the ADB, and other members of the international donor community recognized early on that the rehabilitation and expansion of Afghanistan’s transportation infrastructure — roads, airports, and now rail – were a vital component of the Afghan National Development Strategy.

• ADB President Kuroda and others have spoken to you about the economic opportunity and promise that this project offers to Balkh province, to Afghanistan’s northern region, and to the nation as a whole. This is true and very important.

• Following the successful efforts of the Afghan Government, in cooperation with international donor community and international investors, to rebuild other key components of Afghanistan’s basic infrastructure — including the North East Power System, all but a small remaining portion of the Ring Road, and the nation’s world-class telecommunications infrastructure — what the project represents to me is yet another affirmation that large and complex infrastructure projects supported by Afghanistan’s national and provincial governments can be successfully planned and executed. This is part of the process of restoring peace and prosperity to this great Nation.

• In addition to these critical infrastructure projects, the U.S. Embassy has plans to deploy mentors to the Mazar, who will mentor at both the EU customs facility in Haraitan and the Inland Customs Depot. At the request of the Customs Director of Sher Khan Bandar, our Border Management Task Force has began the process of acquiring land at Sher Khan Bandar (SKB), to facilitate deployment of mentors at the Kunduz Inland Customs Depot, and the SKB Border Crossing Point.

• The promise that this Hairatan rail link can be extended east to Kunduz and west to Herat offers hope to visionaries like Minister Zakhiwal and Minister Shahrani — and to all Afghan citizens — that Afghanistan can once again resume its place as a Silk Road crossroads and regional transportation hub. This is all reason celebrate this important day.

Source: Embassy of the United States, Kabul, Afghanistan 2010-05-25

ADB President visits Hayratan construction works

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

An unorthodox use of “inaugurate”?

25 May 2010

ADB President Inaugurates Rail Line Linking Afghanistan to Central Asia

HAIRATAN, AFGHANISTAN – Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda today inaugurated a 75-kilometer stretch of railway line that connects the Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to the country’s bustling northern border with Uzbekistan.

“The new rail link between Mazar-e-Sharif and Hairatan will help reduce trade bottlenecks, boost commerce, and speed the flow of much-needed humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Kuroda said at the opening ceremony in Hairatan.

“It represents Afghanistan’s emergence as a regional crossroad for trade and commerce and – most importantly – the aspirations of Afghanistan’s people to redefine their country’s role in the region and in the world.”

The rail link is being constructed from a $165 million ADB grant and should be completed by the end of this year. It will connect Afghanistan to Uzbekistan’s expansive rail network, and to regional markets in Europe and Asia. Future links are planned, which will run across the north and to other parts of the country and region, including Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Kuroda met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Finance Minister and ADB Governor Omar Zakhilwal, ADB Alternate Governor Abdul Qadeer Fitrat and other senior government officials in the capital, Kabul. In his remarks at an official luncheon, Mr. Kuroda said the rail link is a hallmark of the eight-member Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC), which Afghanistan joined in 2005.

“Afghanistan is at the heart of CAREC, and ADB’s projects in the country’s road, rail and energy sectors dovetail perfectly with CAREC’s vision of helping Central Asia reap the benefit of its strategic location,” Mr. Kuroda said.

From 2002 to the end of last year, ADB has provided Afghanistan with approximately $2.1 billion in loans, grants, technical assistance and cofinancing. ADB’s focus on infrastructure and regional cooperation is primarily demonstrated in the transport and energy sectors. Other major ADB projects in Afghanistan include portions of the North East Power System, which this time last year began bringing a regular supply of electricity into Kabul from Uzbekistan, and rehabilitation and construction of the northern portion of the country’s Ring Road.

Source: Asian Development Bank press release, 2010-05-25

I’ve put together some details of the project.

Railways to bring ‘economic revolution’

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Afghan minister predicts “economic revolution” if railway project completed

Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhelwal told journalists today that Afghanistan would experience unprecedented economic development by the implementation and the opening of these railway lines. The finance minister, who left for Tashkent to attend the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank [ADB], said that during his meeting with bank officials he would also try to attract financial assistance to implement the railway project from Mazar-e Sharif [the capital of northern Balkh Province] to Herat [western Afghan Province].
…
[Finance minister speaking to camera] We are looking for a donor for the Mazar-e Sharif-Herat Province railway project and if the project is completed – and I am sure that the project will be completed over the next five years, God willing – it will make an economic revolution in Afghanistan and the region as a whole.
…
According to Ministry of Finance officials, besides the ADB, a Chinese company, which has been given the right to extract copper at the Ainak mine in Logar Province, has also promised to construct a railway line from Mazar-e Sharif to Jalalabad [the capital of eastern Nangarhar Province]. According to economists, the construction of railway lines in Afghanistan, which needs hundreds of millions of dollars, will play a key role in the economic development of the country.
…
Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia. Originally published by Arzu TV, Mazar-i-Sharif, in Dari 1 May 2010.

Bloomberg on Afghan railway projects

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Afghan Railway to Draw Taliban Fire as It Boosts Economy, NATO

By Eltaf Najafizada and James Rupert

May 5 (Bloomberg) — Workers are laying track across north Afghanistan’s rolling grassland for the country’s first rail line, a project that will boost the economy, supply NATO troops and become a target for Taliban bombs.
…
“Railroads can reduce our isolation,” said Hamidullah Farooqi, a Kabul University economics professor and former transport minister, in a phone interview. “This is just the first line for a network that we hope can turn our country into a new trade route. That is what we need to create stability.”
[More…]

ADB article about the Hayratan railway project

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

An article from the Asian Development Bank’s Media Center about the Hayratan to Mazar-i-Sharif project – with the first photographs I’ve seen of railway construction work underway.

The ADB also has an article about railway modernisation in Uzbekistan.

Railway to Regional Integration

by Philip Wood

Photograph of railway construction works in Afghanistan

Today, as new trade routes connect landlocked Central Asia with the booming economies of South Asia and the Middle East, Afghanistan’s geographic position is proving a valuable asset.

Hairatan, Afghanistan—For centuries, Afghanistan’s strategic location has been a liability, inviting unwanted attention from countries near and far. But today, as new trade routes connect landlocked Central Asia with the booming economies of South Asia and the Middle East, Afghanistan’s geographic position is proving a valuable asset.

The bulldozers on the dusty northern plains of Hairatan attest to the fact that Afghanistan is poised to become a regional hub for trade and commerce. It is here, across the river from neighboring Uzbekistan, that the building blocks of a 75-kilometer single-line railway are being laid—thanks to a $165 million ADB grant.

Photograph of railway construction works in Afghanistan

The Hairatan border post is the gateway for almost half of Afghanistan’s road imports, but the existing transport infrastructure cannot cope with expanding trade and humanitarian relief. When completed in late 2010, the new rail line will remove the major bottlenecks that have formed at the border, quadrupling capacity and boosting regional trade.

As part of the Transport Strategy and Action Plan under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC), the project will open alternative routes of supply for national and international trade, as well as for humanitarian relief coming into Afghanistan.

The new line will connect Afghanistan to Uzbekistan’s expansive rail network. The initial segment will run between Hairatan and Mazare-e-Sharif, Afghanistan’s second largest city. Future links are planned that will run across the north to other parts of the country and region, including Herat, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

“The new train line will boost freight volumes, lower costs, and raise the profile of Afghanistan as a transit route,” said ADB Afghanistan Country Director Craig Steffensen. “In addition, Central Asian states and Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China, will be able to access world markets more cheaply and easily via Afghanistan and seaports on the Gulf, thus improving their competitiveness in world markets.”

Founded in 1997, CAREC is a partnership of eight countries: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; and six multilateral institutions: ADB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank.

At the heart of CAREC is a plan to develop a seamless network of transport corridors connecting member countries to one another, to fast-growing economies of East and South Asia, and to established markets in Europe and the Russian Federation.
Source: Asian Development Bank, 2010-03-30

ADB grants funds for Mazar-i-Sharif railway

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Exciting news from the Asian Development Bank today. Uzbekistan’s national railway UTY is to be awarded contracts to build a 75 km line from the Hayratan freight terminal to Mazar-i-Sharif by June 2011.

ADB is providing a USD165m grant towards the USD170m cost, with the Afghan government paying the remaining USD5m. Normal tendering procedures are being relaxed as UTY is the only organisation in a position to build and operate the line. As it will be in effect an extension of the Uzbek rail network, the line will be to 1520 mm gauge.

“Security remains an ongoing concern”, but “the project area is deemed relatively safe”.

ADB-Funded Railway to Help Afghanistan Improve Regional Links, Boost Growth

30 September 2009

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Afghanistan’s push to develop reliable, safer, sustainable transport systems that boost growth, and increase connectivity with neighboring countries are getting support from a $165 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) grant.

The funds will be used to build a 75 kilometer single line railway between Hairatan – a northern town at the border with Uzbekistan that is the gateway for almost half of Afghanistan’s imports and much of its humanitarian relief goods – and Mazar-e-Sharif, the second largest city in the country. The project will also upgrade Hairatan station yard, build a transshipment terminal and provide institutional support to develop a railway sector plan.

Afghanistan has the potential to play a key role as a transit route in Central Asia for goods going to ports in Pakistan and the Caspian, and onwards to South and East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. However, trade volumes are heavily constrained by weak transport systems. In the case of Hairatan, freight railed from inside Uzbekistan stops at the border and then has to be offloaded and reloaded into trucks, causing delays and raising costs.

“This line will boost freight volumes, lower costs, raise the profile of Afghanistan as a transit route, and complement two major transport corridors being developed under the Central Asia Regional Cooperation Program (CAREC),” said Balabhaskara Reddy Bathula, Transport Specialist with ADB’s Central and West Asia Department. The project is the first phase of a larger rail network planned for the country, including links to Herat, Tajikistan and Pakistan and is part of CAREC’s broad push to improve connectivity throughout the region, supporting growth and cutting poverty.

Security remains an ongoing concern in Afghanistan and while the project area is deemed relatively safe, the Government has pledged to provide all necessary security support. The project will also bring environmental benefits with double-stack containers helping increase fuel efficiency.

To overcome past problems linked to transport projects, such as cost overruns and delays, the Government will be entering into direct contracts with Uzbekistan Railways Company, both for the engineering, procurement and construction of the new facilities, and for their operation and maintenance. The decision to relax normal procurement procedures is justified by the fact that the new railway will be a de-facto extension of the company’s current line from Termez in Uzbekistan to Hairatan; it does not require investments in new rolling stock; there are no comparable companies in the region capable of designing, building, operating and maintaining a line based on the Uzbekistan system; and the company has proprietary preliminary designs, which accelerates project readiness, saving considerable time and costs.

ADB’s grant covers 97% of the total project cost of $170 million, with the Government contributing $5 million. The Ministry of Public Works will be the executing agency, with June 2011 the estimated completion date.
Source: Asian Development Bank, 2009-09-30

Hayratan to Mazar-i-Sharif project details

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Asian Development Bank has details of the Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif Railway Project. “Interesting to see it all in one place” says Michael G Erickson who spotted it.

The Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif railway link is part of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program. It fits with Transport Corridors 3 and 6, which connect Central Asia to South Asia and the region to the Caucasus and the Middle East. Although the road between Hairatan and Mazar-e-Sharif has been improved, it cannot meet national and regional traffic needs. A railway from Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif will (i) improve links between Afghanistan and neighboring countries, as well as nearby seaports; and (ii) develop an integrated transport network that caters for different cargo.

The existing Uzbek railway network stops at the border town of Hairatan. This is a gateway to Afghanistan, but it has reached its full capacity (4,000 tons of cargo per month). The flow of goods from Central Asia to Afghanistan will increase from 25,000 tons to 40,000 tons per month over the next few years. To prevent bottlenecks at the border, the existing Uzbek railway at Hairatan needs to be extended into Afghanistan, in a first intervention, to Mazar-e-Sharif. At a later stage, the railway network will be extended to Herat in the west and Tajikistan in the east. The railway will service commercial and non-military cargo.

The project is a priority one for Afghanistan. It fits with its Railway Development Plan. It is closely linked to ADB’s Country Partnership Strategy for 2009-2013, which identifies the construction and rehabilitation of national roads and railways as a priority. It is also consistent with the CAREC Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy.

The infrastructure:

The Project outputs will be (i) around 80kms railway line from Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif with support facilities including rail/road connections and terminals constructed; (ii) established signaling and management information system; (iii) productive use of available land and social safeguarded; (iv) safeguarded and protected environment along railway corridor; (vi) strengthened institutions and management capacity.
Source: Asian Development Bank

Meanwhile, New rail line between Uzbekistan, Afghanistan to serve strategic purpose, reports Central Asia Online:

The construction of the 67km-long line is included in a memorandum of understanding to expand trade and economic opportunities that was recently signed by Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and the Asian Development Bank.

A technical team from Uzbek Railway is scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan shortly to prepare for construction. The cost of the project is estimated to be US$120 million, an amount that will provided by the Asian Development Bank. Construction is tentatively slated to begin in December.
Source: Central Asia Online, 2009-08-29

Hayratan – Mazar-i-Sharif railway plan

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Text 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]

Maps of planned Afghan rail projects

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Asian Development Bank’s documentation on the 7th Ministerial Conference on Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation held in Baku on 19–21 November 2008 includes a PDF with maps of the various railway proposals currently active in Afghanistan.

Railway Development Plans in Afghanistan (2.2 MB PDF), was a presentation by Dr Wali Mohammad Rasooli, Technical Deputy Minister, Ministry of Public Works, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.