External Links

Revolution on the rails

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Historically, Afghans have regarded railways with suspicion. But now the government is embracing a plan that could help the country tap into global markets, delivering prosperity and even peace, says Afghanistan’s revolution on the rails, an article by Jonathan Gornall at UAE newspaper The National.

It includes some interesting comments from railway consultant David Brice, who is working in Afghanistan:

And, [Brice] believes, the Afghans may finally have lost their once well justified distrust of foreigners bearing blueprints for railways. “The local people we talk to are thoroughly behind it all. They want to be able to move around much more easily, and in safety. “Afghanistan never has been a self-sufficient country, and any move towards making that happen is clearly highly desirable. The whole population sees this; they are living in terrible poverty and they need access between labour and jobs and medical services. Everything hangs on a decent transport network, and this is the way to provide it.”
Source: The National, 2010-10-09

ADB funding more studies

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

On 16 June 2010 Asian Development Bank approved a further USD700 000 from its Technical Assistance Special Fund for:

A study on railway development for Afghanistan completed for the following routes: (i) From Hairatan at the border with Uzbekistan to Heart [Herat] in the west, via Mazar-e-Sharif; (ii) from Shirkhan Bendar at the border with Tajikistan, via Kunduz to Naibabad [which is on the line under construction from Hayratan] joining Mazar-e-Sharif to Heart; (iii) from Torkham at the border with Pakistan to Jalalabad; and (iv) Spainboldak at the border with Pakistan to Kandahar.

Source: Railway Development Study (Supplementary) : Afghani., Is Rep. of, 2010-06-16

Taking it literally, this seems to miss out the link needed from Chaman in Pakistan over the border to Spin Boldak in Afghanistan.

Narrow gauge railways in Tajikistan

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

“Narrow gauge railway Dushanbe – Kurgan-Tube – Kulyab, Nizhniy Panj” – in Russian, but Google Translate works pretty well.

The 750 mm gauge railway network in the southwest of Tajikistan was started in 1929. Originally there were two unrelated lines: Kurgan-Tube – Nizhniy Panj…

Nizhniy Panj is on north side of the river which forms the border with Afghanistan. The railway closed in the 1990s, but there is some talk of building a new line in the area with a bridge to Afghanistan and onward connections to Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif and beyond.

There is also a link to a general history of railways in Tajikistan (in Russian).

Turkmen train times

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

1909 map of Merv to Kushka railway

It seems that Turkmenistan’s national railway Turkmendemiryollari doesn’t have a website, and it is not easy to find information about its train services.

However Samuel Rachdi has done a lot of research, and as a result Turkmendemiryollari timetables can be found at his fahrplancenter.com website.

This includes a timetable for the daily return passenger train on the line built by imperial Russia from Mary to Serhetabat (Kushka), close to the Afghan border.

From Serhetabat the railway continues across the border to the freight terminal at Towraghondi in Afghanistan, but (as far as I know) this section carries only goods traffic. “Two kilometers of the 7-kilometer link lies in the territory of Afghanistan”, according to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Northern Distribution Network in action

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

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.

“How my grandma saw King Amanullah”

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

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

Gateway to Central Asia

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

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