Afghanistan’s railways

Rail plan for Afghan copper mine

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

AFP reports on November 21:

Afghanistan has chosen a Chinese bidder to lease a copper mine which is possibly the world’s largest, in a contract that is set to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars, the mines ministry said Tuesday [20 November 2007].

The 30-year lease has been offered to China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) to develop the Aynak mine 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of Kabul, a Afghan mines ministry spokesman said.

China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on its website that MCC, a state-owned metal producer and contractor, and Jiangxi Copper Co. would jointly develop the mine.

MCC, expected to sign a deal in the coming months, is to invest around three billion dollars to explore and develop the mine, which will also provide jobs for thousands of Afghans, Afghan ministry spokesman Kozhman Ulomi said.

…
The company also said it would build a railway line from the town of Hairatan on the Amu Darya (Oxys River) bordering Uzbekistan, through Logar and to Torkham on the Pakistan border to export the minerals, the official said.

It added that it would construct a town near the mine for 1,500 families. Other spinoffs would include extra demand for Afghan coal and the creation of small industries using other metal taken from the mine, he said.

First discovered in 1974, the mine is estimated to contain 11.3 million tonnes of copper. About 200,000 tonnes could be extracted a year, Ulomi said.

Afghan bogies cancelled

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The IANS news story of October 24 Pakistan forfeits $500,000 from Chinese firm says

A Chinese firm that was prevented by Beijing from supplying 300 railway bogies [meaning bogie passenger coaches] that Pakistan had contracted for has lost the Rs.30 million (about $50,000) guarantee money it had paid toward the Rs.1.6 billion contract after Islamabad forfeited the deposit.

Pakistan railway ministry officials were ‘shocked’ to learn that the firm that had been awarded the contract ‘was forcibly stopped by the Chinese government from delivering the consignment’, The News said Wednesday.

…

The contract for the bogies, meant for developing rail links with Afghanistan, has now gone to an Iranian firm.
[more]

Rail link rebuilt at Turkmenistan’s expense

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The 2 km cross-border railway between Turkmenistan and the Torghundi freight terminal is once again operational, reports Turkmenistan.ru, after being “fully reconstructed by the Turkmen specialists in the shortest time” at cost of USD550,000.1.

In early July Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had signed a decree under which Turkmenistan would “overhaul” the railway at its own expense, “with the aim to further develop and strengthen good neighborly relations and to provide assistance to the Afghan people in restoration of the national economy”. The Ministry of Railway Transport told Turkmenistan.ru that the work included replacing “out-of date equipment and mechanisms”

Festivities to mark the reopening of the line were held in Turgundi and Serhetabat. The Afghan side was represented by Governor of Herat province Seyit Hoseyin Anvari, top management of the province’s Chamber of Commerce, staff from the Afghan embassy and representatives of the Turkmen diaspora living in the border regions of Afghanistan. The Turkmen delegation was led by Minister of Railway Transport Deryaguly Muhammetguliev.

References

Reconstruction of Afghanistan – Turkmenistan rail link begins

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Turkmenistan starts reconstruction of Afghan railway

A ceremony of launching the reconstruction of a 2 km section of the railway in the territory of Afghanistan that runs into the territory of Turkmenistan was held in Afghan Turgundi and Turkmen Serhetabat towns yesterday. As is known, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov put forward this initiative during his recent meeting with Afghan President Khamid Karzai. The initiative relates to the overhaul of the railway including full replacement of mechanisms and equipment at the expense of Turkmenistan including financing of works for the total value of US$ 550,000.

As the Turkmenistan.ru’s correspondent reports, after laying the first symbolic pair of sleepers in the Afghan territory in Turgundi the similar ceremony was held in Serhetabat. The ceremonies were attended by the delegations of two countries. Public Affairs Minister Sohrab Ali Safari, Minister of Labor and Social Security and on Disabled and Shaheed Affairs Nurmuhammet Garkyn, Governor of Herat Seyit Hoseyin Anvari, Afghan Ambassador to Turkmenistan Abdulkarim Haddam represented the Afghan side. The ceremony was also attended by representatives of bordering Afghan settlements where ethnic Turkmens live. Turkmen Minister of Railway Transport Deryaguly Muhammetguliev led the Turkmen delegation.

from TURKMENISTAN.RU 2007-07-12.

This cross-border line was originally built by the USSR to support its forces after their invasion of Afghanistan. The line stretches for around 9.6 km from Kushka in Turkmenistan to Towraghondi. The route is parallel to the Amu-Darya river on the Soviet side, which made it vunerable to cross-border sabotage and military attack during the Soviet-Afghan war. The line fell out of use sometime around the time of the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Turkmen Railways to Provide Gratuitous Assistance to Afghanistan

The Ministry of railways of Turkmenistan will construct a railway line in Afghanistan at its own expense.

The cost of the project is USD 5.5 Mln, reports Railway Market-CEE Review referrin to Altaqata.

As the Ashgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports quoting the press service of the head of state, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree to this effect “with a view to further developing and strengthening the neighborly relations between Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as well as providing assistance to the people of Afghanistan in reconstruction of the national economy.”

from RZD Partner 2007-07-13.

Golra Sharif Railway Museum

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

In 2003 Pakistan’s Dawb newspaper published A journey into the past by Amer Sial, describing the Pakistan Railways heritage museum at Golra Sharif near Islamabad (there is a similar document here). The article says A few historic pictures hanging on the outside walls of the platform included one of Afghan King Amir Abdur Rehman at the Rawalpindi Railway Station in 1886. Another one shows the passing of a steam train through the Khyber Pass in the late nineteenth century.

While I haven’t been to check(!), it seems unlikely there is a C19th photo of a train through the Khyber Pass, as the metre-gauge railway along the Kabul River was extant c.1905-1909, and the more famous broad-gauge Khyber Pass railway opened on 3 November 1925.

I’ve never seen any pictures of the short-lived metre-gauge line – if anyone has one, or knows where I might find one, please let me know.

Khyber Pass railway history, and Bostan – Zhob revival?

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The Doodh Patti – My Cup of Tea blog has an illustrated article on the history of the Khyber Pass railway, which almost – but not quite – ran to Afghanistan, stopping just short of the border.

The July 2007 issue of Railway Gazette International reports that Pakistan’s government has authorised the acquisition of 584 acres of land required to rebuild to 1 676 mm gauge the 295 km mothballed 762 mm gauge railway between Bostan and Zhob, and construct a 150 km extension to Dera Ismail Khan. This would cut 400 km from the distance from Quetta to Peshawar by rail.

If it ever happens, and who knows how likely that it, this line would be broadly parallel(-ish) to the Afghan border. Pakistan Railways has previously costed the project at Rs 6bn.

Photograph of the Kabul – Darulaman railway

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Karlheinz Rohrwild has found this wonderful picture in the February 1930 issue of the German magazine “UHU”. The caption says The 7 km long railway between Kabul and Darul-Aman was very over-filled..

Train at Darulaman

I guess the building in the background is the palace at Darulaman. Werner Müller has put on-line some fascinating old photos of Afghanistan and Darulaman taken by his ancestor Wilhem Rieck in the 1920s, which are well worth a browse, even if you can’t read German.

The Kabul locos

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Two photos of an Old loco in Afghanistan taken by Major Rob Fraser of the Oregon Army National Guard were posted on Trainorders on 6 December 2006 (thumbnails only – full pics requires a subscription). Accoring to the report, The builders plate says: Henschel & Sohn, G.m.b.H., Cassel, 1929, 12 ATM, Kessel No. 1968.. The two locos previously in the shed have previously been reported as 19680 and 19681 of 1923, so this could be the mysterious third loco (and perhaps the last digit of the number has become illegible)?

Crane lifts Afghan loco Afghan loco on truck The May 2007 Rail Passion magazine article is broadly similar to this April 2006 article from NATO: German ISAF Personnel relocate historical railway engine. I’ve borrowed ISAF’s photos of the loco being moved, and from the un-bent cab it looks to be the one in Major Fraser’s photos (above). Other reports suggest that one of the three locos is actually 2′ gauge, rather than the 2’6″ of the other two engines, so all three are unlikely to have worked on the same line (if anyone happens to be passing Darulaman and has a tape measure, it would be interesting if the gauges could be confirmed). Quite where it did work is still a bit of mystery, as until recently all reports only mentioned two locos at the museum site.

The locos can (just) be seen on this photo at Kabul guide.