A page from The Graphic of 22 September 188x (looks like a 3, but the caption says 8), showing the construction of the Trans-Caspian Railway in what is now Turkmenistan.

Hairatan photos

Posted on 12 September 201228 September 2012 by Andrew Grantham

Photos of Hairatan taken by Cyril Groue on 12 August 2012. Includes some wagons, and views of the Friendship Bridge.

Herat railway to open by 20 March 2013?

Posted on 1 September 20121 September 2012 by Andrew Grantham

Iran to invest in Afghan railways

Iran plans to invest $75mln in the construction of the Afghanistan part of Khaf-Herat railway line which is due to connect the country to Eastern Iran, a Kabul official announced on Sunday.

Afghanistan Deputy Minister of Public Works Wali Mohammad Rassouli said that the railway has been divided into four parts, two of them in Iran and the other two in Afghanistan.

“The third and fourth sections are inside Afghanistan. The third part which is 62km long will be completed by the end of this solar calendar year (on March 20, 2013) by Iran’s $75mln gratis aid,” he said, adding that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will fund the last part.

[More…]
Source: Fars News Agency, Iran, 2012-08-26

Soviet-era photos of the Afghan rail links

Posted on 19 August 2012 by Andrew Grantham

Some RIA Novosti photos:

Afghan fuel trucks at the Soviet-Afghan border. Turkmenistan, 04/18/1978 [18 April 1978], author Fred Grinberg. A black and white photo of showing the railway on the left.
Afghan gasoline tank trucks with the Soviet fuel en route to the city of Herat is a colour picture of the same location. It is dated 06/01/1978 [but is that DD/MM//YYYY, or MM/DD/YYYY], however it looks to be taken at almost the same time as the picture above – compare the vehicles and the people.

New bridge connecting the Soviet port of Termez and the Afghan port of Hairatan, event date 07/01/1984.

Freight train photo

Posted on 12 August 2012 by Andrew Grantham

“Yes, the first railway in Afghanistan is working… finally. But in the moment just for ISAF.”

A photograph of a freight train taken on 29 May 2012 by Julian G Albert, who also has other photos of Traffic & Logistics in Afghanistan.

A lost opportunity?

Posted on 5 August 2012 by Andrew Grantham

Khyber Railway: A Lost Opportunity?, asks Abdur Razzaq at PACT Radio on 4 August 2012.

Ambassador at Hairatan

Posted on 29 July 2012 by Andrew Grantham

Some 20 February 2010 photos of Hairatan at the website of Mohammad Sadiq, Ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan: Yes Afghanistan has railways-this one linked Heratan Port with the Soviet Union.