What is described as the first train from China to Afghanistan1 left Nantong in eastern China’s Jiangsu province on 25 August 2016, carrying 84 containers.2
It is scheduled to take 15 days to complete the journey, running via the Alataw Pass, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Hairatan in northern Afghanistan.3
Two trains are scheduled to run each month, as part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative to improve Asian transport connectivity.
The inaugural train was photographed being hauled by Class ND5 (General Electric Type C36-7) diesel-electric locomotive number 0157, which was decorated with a red pompom kind of thing on its nose and with a sign on the front saying in English:
Central Asia Trains
Nantong—Afghan – Hairatan
plus some Chinese writing, which I’m reliably informed says the same thing.
There was also a banner on the side of the locomotive saying “Congratulations on the Central Asial trains (Nantong – Afghanistan – Hairaton) launching“,4 and there were banners on some of the wagons.5
Interestingly, the containers are being carried in open wagons, rather than on flat wagons. The wagons themselves will presumably not be making the full journey, instead the containers will be shipped from China’s 1435 mm standard gauge wagons to the fomer USSR’s 1520 mm gauge at the Kazakh border.
The first #SinoAfghan cargo left Haimen for Hairatan through #OBOR @mfa_afghanistan @JananMosazai @RECCAfghanistan pic.twitter.com/yLqeuINocc
— Wahid Waissi (@WahidWaissi) August 25, 2016
References
- I have no particular reason to doubt this claim ↩
- Cargo train services launched between Nantong and Afghanistan, Xinhua, 25 August 2016 ↩
- Cargo train leaves Nantong on first journey to Afghanistan, CCTV.com, 25 August 2016 ↩
- For what it’s worth, the spelling of Hairatan/Hairaton was not consistent between the front and side banners ↩
- Central Asia freight train service starts, Xinhua, 25 August 2016 ↩