Railway from Torkham to Amo Darya connects Middle Asia to Indian Ocean
Dip Engineer M Ibrahim Adel Minister of Mine of Afghanistan met with Abdul Rahim Ashur Minister of Transport and communication of Tajikestan.
Dr Jalil Shams Minister of Economy, Ministry of Mine of Afghanistan deputies and deputies from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, education and agriculture of Tajikestan also participated in the meeting.
The Minister of Mines explained the Aynak copper project to Tajikistan delegation, “a part of the Aynak project would be to extend the railway from Amo Darya to Torkham, the other parts of the railway would be in Pakistan and china that connects middle Asia to Indian Ocean in Karachi in Pakistan and Bandar Abbas in Iran“, Said Minister of Mines of Afghanistan.
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“We believe that Aynak Copper Project is the start for Afghanistan to use the natural resources “, said Minister of Transport and communication of Tajikistan. He also hoped to increase the facilitated transportation between Afghanistan and Tajikistan to obtain benefits from each others resources.Minister Ashur also noted that the 1783 Km distance from Kabul- Tashghar is shortest way to connect middle Asia to china and the government of Tajikistan is ready to make more facilities for this issue.
He also said: “whenever the Afghanistan government wants to, we are ready to negotiate about Amo Darya River “.
Source: Ministry of Mines, 2010-05-10
Pakistan
Railway Gazette International on Afghan rail plans
Railway Gazette International on the latest Afghan rail plans:
Afghan rail strategy takes shape
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The first phase would start at Sher Khan Bandar on the Tajik border, connect at Naibabad with the 1520 mm gauge line now under construction from Uzbekistan, and continue through Mazar-i-Sharif to Herat, with the possibility of a link to the Turkmemistan Railways line at Towraghondi. A branch would run from Shirbirghan via Andkhvoy to the Aqina border crossing with Turkmenistan.
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A second phase would see a Chinese-backed line built from Mazar-i-Sharif to Kabul, Jalalabad and Torkham, near the Khyber Pass. The long-proposed extension of Pakistan Railways’ Chaman line to Kandahar is also planned.
Source: Railway Gazette International, 2010-06-28
Afghan government plans three standard gauge railways
The Minister of Mines and “Coordinator of Cluster for Economic & Infrastructure Development” said last month that the Railway Development Program of Afghanistan plans three lines totalling 2000 km and costing $5.938 billion [presumably US dollars].
- Shirkhan Bandar [for Tajikistan border] – Kunduz province – Balkh province – Herat [link to Iran]
Branch: Mazar-i-Sharif – Hayratan [Uzbekistan border]
Branch: Andkhoy – Aqina [Turkmenistan border] - Mazar-i-Sharif – Pul-i-Khumri – Kabul – Jalalabad – Torkham [Pakistan border].
- Chaman [Pakistan] – Spin Boldak – Kandahar.
The statement says these lines would be 1435 mm (standard) gauge, designed for 25 ton axle loads, speeds of 100-160 km/h and capacity for 10-12 pairs of trains a day.
Building the northern corridor to standard gauge might make sense, however Hayratan – Mazar-i-Sharif is already being built to 1520 (Russian) gauge, and it is hard to see any possible justification for building Chaman – Kandahar to anything other than 1676 (Indian) gauge for compatibility with Pakistan.
Consultation Workshop on Railway Development Study
The “Consultation Workshop on Railway Development Study” took place at Kabul Serena Hotel. Topics of discussion included the development and acceleration the international trade, improvement of transportation networks in Afghanistan, providing competitive trade facilities and transit across Afghanistan, and the development plan of a railway that will join major trade centers of Afghanistan to neighboring countries.
His Excellency Wahidullah Shahrani, the Minister of Mines, and Coordinator of Cluster for Economic & Infrastructure Development, commented during his introduction, “Accelerating of the international trade requires the modernization of roadways and development of transport infrastructures, and, fortunately, the government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan accepted the strategic goals of regional cooperation of Central Asia which is included the development of six transport routes in the region, and three of that will extend through Afghanistan.”
“Currently under construction is 75 Km of railway between Hairatan and Mazar-e-sharef, part of the first phase of the northern corridor railway plan. The second and largest stage of this project is generating an additional 1000 Km of railway”,said Mr. Shahrani.
Mr. Shahrani added, “The government of Afghanistan has a plan to generate a 2000 Km of railway, which could join the some of the country’s major cities to our neighboring countries.”According to the Railway Development Program of Afghanistan, the first route begins from the port of Shirkhan and passes through the Kunduz and Balkh provinces, ending in Herat province. It will have two branches originating at Hairatan- Mazar, and, Andkhoi- Aqina. The second route will begin from Mazar, pass through Polikhomri, Kabul, Jalalabad, and end in Toorkham. and the third route in south of the country will begin at Spinboldak/Chaman and end in Kandahar city.
Commenting on some of the technical aspects of the railway, the Minister said, “The internal gauge of the lines is planned to be similar to 1435mm European railways, with a tonnage of 25 tons per axel and a speed of 100-160 Km per Hour. In the areas where a change of gauge is impossible, there will be special arrangements to replacement cargo. The primary capacity of the railway is 10-12 pairs of daily trains.”
The total cost of the project, including construction, engineering, environmental work, advisory services, and materials is estimated to be 5.938 billion dollars.
Attending the conference were some members of the Cabinet, members of the parliament, foreign ambassadors, representatives of European Union in Kabul, as well as some members of the private sector and international organizations.
Source: Ministry of Mines, 2010-05-23
Khojak Tunnel construction photos
These rare albumen photographs by Fred Bremner show Sindh and Baluchistan province in 1889. They are among the earliest known photographs of the area.
Includes photos of the construction of the Khojak tunnel, and a view of one of the rope inclines.
The Khojak rope inclines
There is an article about the Khojak Rope Inclines at the Funimag website, which covers funicular railways.
The Khojak tunnel is (now) in Pakistan, on the railway from Quetta to Chaman on the Afghan border.
The defense and the supply of Chaman could not wait for these three years of digging Khojak tunnel. The Indian government decided to build a temporary line of communication, quick and inexpensive to cross the mountains until the end of the work in the Khojak tunnel (1889-1891).
The temporary railway line was built in 1888 and crossed the summit chain Khwaja Amran mountains with the help of four inclined cable railways which allowed to move locomotives and carriages from one side to the other side of the mountain.
[more…]
Pakistan Railways steam photos
The April 2010 issue of British Railways Illustrated magazine has an article with lots of photographs of the Khyber Pass line taken by Gavin Morrison in the 1970s. There is a companion article about Pakistani narrow gauge in the April 2010 Railway Bylines, with basically the same text but different pictures.
The text isn’t especially detailed, being a brief description of the visit, rather than a history of the lines, but there are some very nice pictures of steam engines in action in spectacular scenery.
Sadly the Khyber Pass line is now out of action, with sections having been washed away and revival seemingly a distant prospect – unless the Chinese decide to rebuild and extend it to serve their Afghan copper mining concession at Aynak.
The 2’6″ gauge railway from Bostan to Zhob (Fort Sandeman) has closed. The track was lifted by the authorities to prevent (further) theft, although the government has announced plans to rebuild it as a 1676 mm gauge line and construct a 150 km extension to Dera Ismail Khan, cutting 400 km from the distance by rail between Quetta and Peshawar.
Elephants carrying locomotives through the Bolan Pass
Posted by Robert Grauman at Practical Machinist is an article about railway construction during the Great Game which appeared in 15 August 1885, issue of Scientific American, having originally appeared in French magazine L’Ilustration. I guess it is now out of copyright, so I’ll post it here too.
The Bolan pass is now in Pakistan.
An English military railway
“The English army has succeeded in establishing a portable railway on several points of the Bolan Pass. This railroad is of the Decauville system, formed in sections of small steel rails, which can be put down or taken up very quickly. This ingenious railway – which has been used considerably for work on the Panama Canal and for the transportation of sugar cane in Australia and Java – has become the indispensable means of transport in all wars. It is at present being used in Tonquin and Madagascar by the French army, and is also being used on the Red Sea by the Italian army. When the Russian government commenced the war in Turkestan, in 1882, it bought one hundred versts, or about 66 miles, of the Decauville railroad, which Gen. Skobeleff used with great success for the transportation of potable water and for all the provisions for his army. This railroad was taken up as the army marched forward, and when the Russians advanced recently, in Afghanistan, the little railway appeared at the advance posts, and was described to the English army by the officers who watched the operations for the Afghans. An order for a similar apparatus was given by the English government to M. Decauville, directions being given that the road should be of the same type as that furnished to the Russians. The object of this was, probably, that any sections of road which might be captured from the Russians during the war could be used by the English. In this last order there was one problem which was very difficult to solve; all the material had to be carried by elephants, and they wanted a locomotive. M. Decauville had the locomotive made in two parts, the larger of which weighed on 3,978 pounds, the greatest weight that an elephant can carry.”“This episode of the Anglo-Russian conflict, illustrated in the annexed cut, is a great conquest for our national industry, for the works of M. Decauville are at Petit-Bourg, that is, in France, and only an hour from Paris. They cover about 20 acres on the bank of the Seine, and adjoin the P.L.M. The great hall is 525 feet long by 525 feet deep. The material is brought in at both ends (at one end the rails and steel for the road, and at the other end the sheet metal and iron for the cars), and the manufactured products are taken out at the middle, loaded in the cars of the P.L.M Co. In July, 1884, the works of Petit-Bourg attained their greatest development, with a thousand workmen, and 350 machines, which do the work of 3,000 men. Among others, there are four painting machines, which do the work of 60 painters. Three thousand cars and 93 miles of road are produced each month.”
Source: Scientific American, 15 August 1885, quoted at Practical Machinist‘s Antique Machinery and History forum 2010-02-26
“The tribes were very restive and hostile”
I’ve just been re-reading a fascinating book I found whilst browsing dusty shelves in a bookshop in Rawalpindi when I was last in Pakistan (1997). It is called “Adventure Through Khyber” by Victor Bayley … His task: to design and supervise the construction of a railway through the Khyber Pass, a railway which would eventually link far off Bombay to the Afghanistan Border at Landi Khana.
Photos of the Bolan Pass line
Some 1890 photographs of the Bolan Pass line in what is now Pakistan, at Railways of the Raj.
On his return to India, William secured employment with the North Western Railway as Engineer, and was engaged in reconstructing the railway on the Bolan Pass to Quetta. This line, seen in the picture alongside dating back to 1890, originally laid along valleys, was often washed away in flash floods, and the only way was to raise the track to a height. The credit of handling this onerous task goes to William, and a station called Edgenuga was named after him.
…The pictures you see here are all from William’s album, which David has shared with us. Thank you David for the superb pictures, you sure deserve a treat !!
Update: Part two.
Quetta to Kandahar feasibility study
Feasibility report of starting railway service from Quetta to Kandahar okayed
QUETTA: The feasibility report of starting railway service from Quetta to Kandahar has been prepared and sent to the Afghan government and its response is awaited.
This was stated by deputy superintendent of Pakistan Railway Balochistan while addressing a press conference at his office here on Saturday.
More…
Source: Online-International News Network, 2010-01-17
This is the Chaman – Spin Boldak – Kandahar line, which has been under discussion for a very long time.