After nearly a century, a modern Afghan railroad is under construction, reports CNN. “This connects Afghanistan to the world,” says an 18-year-old high school student named Shakrullah. He says he hopes to one day get a job as an engineer for the railroad. “I want trains for all the provinces of Afghanistan, not just for Balkh province.”
Author: Andrew Grantham
Agreement signed for north-south corridor studies
This looks potentially significant, although the words if feasible
are probably quite important. I will try to study the announcement in more detail later this week.
MINISTER SHAHRANI SIGNS HISTORIC RAILWAY AGREEMENT
Kabul: September 22, 2010
Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani today signed an historic agreement with the China Metallurgical Company (MCC) for a railway to connect Kabul to Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
This northern railway project is part of the Aynak Copper Mine Contract, signed between the Government and MCC. The contract specifies that MCC constructs a railway, if feasible, from northern Pakistan through Kabul to southern Uzbekistan. This rail link will connect Afghanistan to the railways of Pakistan, India, and South East Asia and to the extensive rail system of China, Europe and Central Asia.Minister Shahrani said, ‘When complete, the railways will give substantial benefits for the Afghan economy in trade, employment and cheaper prices. This northern railway is part of a wider plan to extend the Afghan rail network to connect Afghanistan to ports in Iran and Pakistan.’
The next step is for MCC to commission and fund a competitive tender for a feasibility study to examine the preferred route proposed by the Government’s Inter-Ministerial Railway Committee. It will take up to two years for the detailed route study and another six months to complete the full feasibility study.
The feasibility of the second part of the railway, from Kabul through Bamyan, Doshe, Kunduse, Niadabob, Hairetan and on to Uzbekistan, will be studied for an additional 18 months with construction to follow.
MCC will build the railway according to the ‘BOOT’ principle – ‘Build, Own, Operate and Transfer’. MCC will own the railway until it has recovered its capital costs through collecting transport fees. The details of the BOOT Agreement will be negotiated once the Government have approved the feasibility study prepared by a independent contractor funded by MCC.
The railway will be designed to have the size and capacity to carry the heaviest of loads – copper cathodes, copper concentrates, and commercial goods for transit, agricultural products, passengers and normal freight.
MCC will employ Afghan labor as much as possible in the construction and operation of the railway. Prior to the transfer of ownership to the Government, MCC will complete a training program for Afghan workers to operate the railway. The training will range from
basic functions to high level executive management.
Estimated costs for the entire railway range from US $ 4 –5 billion. Completion of the entire route could be within five years from starting the detailed route survey.Benefits
The opening the new railway will bring many benefits to Afghanistan. Costs of goods and services will fall due to lower transportation costs. Huge economic and social development opportunities will arise along the rail route as companies switch from road to rail transport. The mining and extractive industries will become more cost effective along the resource corridor developed with the railway.
Source: Ministry of Mines, 2010-09-22
Northern Distribution Network in action
Northern route eases supplies to US forces in Afghanistan at The International Institute For Strategic Studies. With a map, and a graph of container traffic.
Some interesting snippets:
- Moving supplies via the northern rail route costs approximately 10% of the cost of movement by air.
- NATO has also begun using the NDN. The first trial shipment of NATO cargo, consisting of 27 containers of construction materials and food supplies, departed from Riga, Latvia, in May 2010. Russia had offered transit to NATO at the Alliance’s 2008 Bucharest summit, but it was not until 2009 that NATO began negotiating transit rights with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and these talks took almost a year to complete.
- [The Termez to Hairatan railway] has reached its handling capacity of 4,000 tonnes of cargo per month. Until upgrades are completed, this border crossing is likely to remain a choke point. Meanwhile, railway experts have questioned whether the existing rail route through Uzbekistan is capable of handling the amount of traffic envisioned by the US military and its allies.
Mazar-i-Sharif railway completed
ISAF reports that construction of the railway from the Uzbek border to the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif has been completed.
Railway Line Completed in Northern Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (Sept. 15) – A 75 kilometer rail road main line between Uzbekistan and Mazar-e Sharif, Balkh province was completed recently, opening up economic progress for Afghanistan.
The $165 million project, financed by Japan and the United States, began back in May and was one of the largest construction projects in Afghan history.
The idea of building a railway connection from Termez to the capital of Balkh province was born when the Soviet army withdrew from Afghanistan 30 years ago. A single bridge over a border river was the only passage between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
Almost half of Afghanistan’s imports pass through the border town of Hairatan with the railway expected to handle millions of tons of goods, benefit up to five million people.
Also planned are an additional 25 kilometers for side and switching yards, which are expected to be completed in November.
ISAF Joint Command – Afghanistan press release, 2010-09-15
“How my grandma saw King Amanullah”
In the third and final part of a little series, Thomas Ruttig takes you on a journey in G.H. Wells’ time machine, back to Berlin in the year 1928 when Afghan King Amanullah visited the German capital as first head of state after the end of Kaiser Wilhelm’s monarchy. Read how the King drove the Berlin ‘tube’, what he got as a present of honour and how the Berliners made ‘Ullemulle’ – and I am sure this nickname was meant to be friendly – their King of Hearts.
Source: Afghan Encounters in Europe or: How My Grandma Saw King Amanullah
Bam – Zahedan passenger services
This recent announcement from Iranian Railways appears to say something about Bam – Zahedan passenger services. It is in Persian and Google Translate isn’t perfect, but “Rail-based delivery of Zahedan – Bam by the Deputy Ministry of Road Construction and Development to rail, passenger and freight trains until the end of this axis are traffic.”
Another photo of the Friendship Bridge
The “Friendship Bridge” runs across the Amu Darya River between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The friendship bridge connects Mangusar, Uzbekistan and Hariatan, Afghanistan.(U.S. Air Force Photo By Staff Sgt. Bradley Lail) (released)
Memorandum of understanding
On July 7 Afghanistan and Pakistan signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake feasibility studies for extension of Pakistan Railways lines from Chaman to Kandahar and from the Khyber Pass to Torkham and Jalalabad.
Source: Railway Gazette International, August 2010
Gateway to Central Asia
Photo of an Uzbek locomotive (a TEM2?), “The train that crosses the Friendship Bridge into Uzbekistan in Northern Afghanistan”.
Afghanistan’s only rail services are located in Northern Afghanistan. One connects the Friendship Bridge between Termiz in Uzbekistan and Haryaton in Afghanistan’s, Balkh Province. The second is located between Kushka in Turkmenistan and Towraghondi in Faryab Province.
Source: NorthernAfghanistan.com
China and Afghanistan
Afghanistan in China’s Emerging Eurasian Transport Corridor, China Brief Volume: 10 Issue: 14, July 9 2010, by Richard Weitz. “In the case of railroad construction, the PRC brings several distinct advantages to this endeavor…”