Hayratan

Hayratan freight terminal pictures

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The Army Strong Stories website has an article Hairaton, Afghanistan – On the Uzbekistan Border by Maj. Christopher Lecron. “Containers are off-loaded at the rail yard and put on trucks. We are hoping to expand the rail line further south to reduce costs and increase efficiency.” He also has a March 24 2010 photo of the border.

Tank wagon on level crossing at Hayratan

Hairaton, Afghanistan Hopes to Move More U.S. Military Cargo

Story by Maj. Christopher Lecron
Date: 03.24.2010
Posted: 03.27.2010 01:40

HAIRATAN, Afghanistan — The mayor of Hairaton, Afghanistan and several other town logistics officials met with U.S. Air Force Major General Robert McMahon and his staff to discuss potential improvements in the cargo supply chain from Uzbekistan into Afghanistan.

Hairaton is the border crossing for a high volume of truck, rail and river barge cargo transiting into Afghanistan.

“We are always looking for additional supply routes into Afghanistan and we hope to improve the route through Hairaton with a rail line that extends all the way to Masar-e Sharif,” said McMahon. Currently, the rail line ends at Hayraton and containers are trans-loaded onto trucks for onward movement.

McMahon is the director of the Central Command Deployment and Distribution Operations Center. The agency monitors and optimizes the flow of cargo into Afghanistan. After reading daily reports of U.S. forces cargo transiting Hairaton, the team wanted to survey the town and logistics center with their own eyes. The trip included a walking tour of the rail yard, truck border crossing, and river barge site. German soldiers from nearby Camp Marmal provided a security detail for the trip.

Hikmat Rahmetov, a representative from Hapag-Lloyd, served as the subject matter expert for Hairaton logistics. Rahmetov routinely works with U.S. military agencies to transport containers by truck and rail from Hayraton into Afghanistan. Hapag-Lloyd mostly moves U.S. military cargo through Hayraton, but hopes to expand shipping to include NATO cargo as well.

With very safe, secure areas, welcoming government and commercial partners, Hayraton is an ideal place to increase the flow of re-supply into Afghanistan. The potential completion of a rail line that runs south from Hairaton would only increase the volume and efficiency of cargo flow. In addition, increased transportation requirements would create more jobs and help to fuel the local economy.

Source: DVIDS, 2010-03-24

ADB article about the Hayratan railway project

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

An article from the Asian Development Bank’s Media Center about the Hayratan to Mazar-i-Sharif project – with the first photographs I’ve seen of railway construction work underway.

The ADB also has an article about railway modernisation in Uzbekistan.

Railway to Regional Integration

by Philip Wood

Photograph of railway construction works in Afghanistan

Today, as new trade routes connect landlocked Central Asia with the booming economies of South Asia and the Middle East, Afghanistan’s geographic position is proving a valuable asset.

Hairatan, Afghanistan—For centuries, Afghanistan’s strategic location has been a liability, inviting unwanted attention from countries near and far. But today, as new trade routes connect landlocked Central Asia with the booming economies of South Asia and the Middle East, Afghanistan’s geographic position is proving a valuable asset.

The bulldozers on the dusty northern plains of Hairatan attest to the fact that Afghanistan is poised to become a regional hub for trade and commerce. It is here, across the river from neighboring Uzbekistan, that the building blocks of a 75-kilometer single-line railway are being laid—thanks to a $165 million ADB grant.

Photograph of railway construction works in Afghanistan

The Hairatan border post is the gateway for almost half of Afghanistan’s road imports, but the existing transport infrastructure cannot cope with expanding trade and humanitarian relief. When completed in late 2010, the new rail line will remove the major bottlenecks that have formed at the border, quadrupling capacity and boosting regional trade.

As part of the Transport Strategy and Action Plan under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC), the project will open alternative routes of supply for national and international trade, as well as for humanitarian relief coming into Afghanistan.

The new line will connect Afghanistan to Uzbekistan’s expansive rail network. The initial segment will run between Hairatan and Mazare-e-Sharif, Afghanistan’s second largest city. Future links are planned that will run across the north to other parts of the country and region, including Herat, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

“The new train line will boost freight volumes, lower costs, and raise the profile of Afghanistan as a transit route,” said ADB Afghanistan Country Director Craig Steffensen. “In addition, Central Asian states and Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China, will be able to access world markets more cheaply and easily via Afghanistan and seaports on the Gulf, thus improving their competitiveness in world markets.”

Founded in 1997, CAREC is a partnership of eight countries: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; and six multilateral institutions: ADB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank.

At the heart of CAREC is a plan to develop a seamless network of transport corridors connecting member countries to one another, to fast-growing economies of East and South Asia, and to established markets in Europe and the Russian Federation.
Source: Asian Development Bank, 2010-03-30

Wheat by rail in Afghanistan

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

There is a small photo from 2007 on the website of the Private Sector Development Directorate of Afghanistan’s Ministry Of Commerce And Industry, which shows the off-loading of wheat imported from Uzbekistan at Hayratan.

The caption says The rail-wagons carry the wheat from Uzbekistan, off-load, and return empty. In the absence of facilities in Hairaton, these wagons could be utilized to export/transit goods from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan and beyond. However, there is no formal arrangement between the two countries to allow such exports or transit of goods through Uzbekistan.

Uzbek bottleneck on the Northern Distribution Network

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

AFGHANISTAN: WASHINGTON EXPLORING CHINESE RE-SUPPLY ROUTE

Deirdre Tynan 2/02/10

[…]
On land, the NDN also appears to be experiencing some problems. Although the US Department of Defense insists the NDN is running at top capacity, Dmitri Rogozin, Russia’s mischievous envoy to NATO, told the Russian news paper Izvestia on January 26 that “there are some technical problems associated with an overload on one of the railway routes.”

Experts caution that additional land routes, whether routed through China or eastern Russia, could ultimately face the same problem — a bottleneck in Uzbekistan. “The problem isn’t the route to Central Asia, it is getting across Uzbekistan [to Afghanistan]. So you can have 10 ways to get to Termez, but what’s the difference?” a well-placed source told EurasiaNet.

Until major upgrades are completed at the Termez-Hairaton border crossing, and action taken to contain corruption and red tape, Uzbekistan is likely to continue to act as a choke point for US and NATO supplies bound for Afghanistan, the source added.
Source: Eurasianet , 2010-02-20

Work starts on Mazar-i-Sharif line

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Uzbek national railway UTY has begun construction of the Hayratan to Mazar-i-Sharif railway.

Construction of Afghan railway launched

AFGHANISTAN: A ceremony on January 22 marked the start of construction of a 75 km rail link from Uzbekistan to the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. The line is being built by Uzbek national railway UTY, which said it will be ‘a vivid testimony to the friendly relations between the two countries.’
More
Source: Railway Gazette International, 2010-01-27

Some photos of Hayratan

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Some June 2008 photos of Hayratan by Mathias Schroeder.

And some March 2007 photos of the Friendship Bridge by Conrad Blything

Uzbekistan signs Mazar-i-Sharif contracts

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Uzbek president resolves to adopt measures on construction of railroad Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif

28 November 2009 18:31:13 +5 GMT

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a resolution “On measures on realization of project “Designing, construction, establishment and commission to exploitation of railroad line between Hairatan and Mazar-e-Sharif” on 20 November.

The resolution was adopted for developing Trans-Afghan railway corridor, expanding transit transportation on railway line Tashguzar-Boisun-Kumkurgan, and broadening export potential of enterprises of Uzbekistan.

Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) adopted decision on 30 September 2009 to allocate grant to the Government of Afghanistan to finance project “Designing, construction, establishment and commission to exploitation of railroad line between Hairatan and Mazar-e-Sharif” and Uzbekistan Temir Yollari state joint stock railway company was selected as general contractor.

The resolution said Uzbekistan Temir Yollari and Ministry of Public Works of Afghanistan initialled contract on construction of railroad for US$129 million.

The document noted that Uzbekistan Temir Yollari will participate at the project as general contractor and Boshtransloyiha OJSC as general designer, as well as legal entities, realizing goods (works and services) to general contractor in line with the signed agreements.

The resolution entrusted Uzbekistan Temir Yollari to sign agreements with Uzbekinvest national export-import company on insurance of life and health of all workers, engaged in the project, during their stay in Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan Temir Yollari in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior Affairs, National Security Service, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs was entrusted to adopt measures on signing memorandum of mutual understanding on guaranteeing security of personal, attracted to the project, construction equipment and infrastructure in the territory of Afghanistan with the authorized body of Afghanistan and Collective Security Forces, deployed in Afghanistan.

The resolution set several preferences to Uzbekistan Temir Yollari and its employees, who will participate in the project. In particular, the sum of additional payments to travel allowances, paid to employees of the Uzbek railway company, traveling to Afghanistan to realize the project, and the expenses on providing three meals a day are not included to taxable base to income taxes of legal entities and individuals.

The document said income tax will not be obliged to property, received and handed over within the structures of Uzbekistan Temir Yollari within the framework of the realized project.

Uzbekistan Temir Yollari was also exempted from custom payments, except fees for customs registration, for equipment and materials, imported and exported from Uzbekistan within the project, in line with the list, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan. The document also allowed to export some items, which were banned in line with the legislation.

Ministry of Economy of Uzbekistan in cooperation with Uzbekneftegaz national holding company were entrusted to supply combustive-lubricating materials to Uzbekistan Temir Yollari without interruption.

The ministry will also ensure realization of metal products and cement to the Uzbekistan Temir Yollari on direct agreements on average exchange prices.

Source: UzDaily.com, 2009-11-28

The Railway Magazine, January 2010

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

There is a short report “Afghan railway progress” on page 91 of the January 2010 issue of The Railway Magazine.

This mentions the Asian Development Bank funding, and describes the Iran to Herat line as “stalled due to both lack of resources and border disturbances”. It reports there are 20 wagon loadings a week to Towraghondi, and 30 daily to Hayratan.

ADB grants funds for Mazar-i-Sharif railway

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Exciting news from the Asian Development Bank today. Uzbekistan’s national railway UTY is to be awarded contracts to build a 75 km line from the Hayratan freight terminal to Mazar-i-Sharif by June 2011.

ADB is providing a USD165m grant towards the USD170m cost, with the Afghan government paying the remaining USD5m. Normal tendering procedures are being relaxed as UTY is the only organisation in a position to build and operate the line. As it will be in effect an extension of the Uzbek rail network, the line will be to 1520 mm gauge.

“Security remains an ongoing concern”, but “the project area is deemed relatively safe”.

ADB-Funded Railway to Help Afghanistan Improve Regional Links, Boost Growth

30 September 2009

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Afghanistan’s push to develop reliable, safer, sustainable transport systems that boost growth, and increase connectivity with neighboring countries are getting support from a $165 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) grant.

The funds will be used to build a 75 kilometer single line railway between Hairatan – a northern town at the border with Uzbekistan that is the gateway for almost half of Afghanistan’s imports and much of its humanitarian relief goods – and Mazar-e-Sharif, the second largest city in the country. The project will also upgrade Hairatan station yard, build a transshipment terminal and provide institutional support to develop a railway sector plan.

Afghanistan has the potential to play a key role as a transit route in Central Asia for goods going to ports in Pakistan and the Caspian, and onwards to South and East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. However, trade volumes are heavily constrained by weak transport systems. In the case of Hairatan, freight railed from inside Uzbekistan stops at the border and then has to be offloaded and reloaded into trucks, causing delays and raising costs.

“This line will boost freight volumes, lower costs, raise the profile of Afghanistan as a transit route, and complement two major transport corridors being developed under the Central Asia Regional Cooperation Program (CAREC),” said Balabhaskara Reddy Bathula, Transport Specialist with ADB’s Central and West Asia Department. The project is the first phase of a larger rail network planned for the country, including links to Herat, Tajikistan and Pakistan and is part of CAREC’s broad push to improve connectivity throughout the region, supporting growth and cutting poverty.

Security remains an ongoing concern in Afghanistan and while the project area is deemed relatively safe, the Government has pledged to provide all necessary security support. The project will also bring environmental benefits with double-stack containers helping increase fuel efficiency.

To overcome past problems linked to transport projects, such as cost overruns and delays, the Government will be entering into direct contracts with Uzbekistan Railways Company, both for the engineering, procurement and construction of the new facilities, and for their operation and maintenance. The decision to relax normal procurement procedures is justified by the fact that the new railway will be a de-facto extension of the company’s current line from Termez in Uzbekistan to Hairatan; it does not require investments in new rolling stock; there are no comparable companies in the region capable of designing, building, operating and maintaining a line based on the Uzbekistan system; and the company has proprietary preliminary designs, which accelerates project readiness, saving considerable time and costs.

ADB’s grant covers 97% of the total project cost of $170 million, with the Government contributing $5 million. The Ministry of Public Works will be the executing agency, with June 2011 the estimated completion date.
Source: Asian Development Bank, 2009-09-30