Images of the Afghanistan railway at Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. 02/12/2010 by Zabi Rashidi at Demotix.
Hayratan
Railway supplies Mazar-i-Sharif airport
“An Afghan train worker explains the workings of a conductor board to the Afghan Minister of Finance in Hairaten, Afghanistan Dec. 6. The new train track is more than 75 kms long and provides hundereds of jobs to local Afghans.” (Photo by Army Sgt. Michael Reinsch, IJC Public Affairs)
A couple of ISAF stories via the US DVIDS website. The first one seems to come in two versions, one calling the railway “recently constructed” and attributing the funding to “BMZ, a German international assistance organization and Uzbekistan contractors.” The other verison says “under construction” and correctly attributes the funding to ADB, so I’ll quote that one:
New railroad increases trade in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan – A railroad, under construction from the border of Uzbekistan to just beyond Mazar-e-Sharif [My understanding was that it stops short of the city?] in northern Afghanistan, is expected to see an increase in utilization by several organizations and traders upon its completion.
Last week, Afghan officials, international aid representatives and International Security Assistance Forces visited Hairaten to look at the railroad along the border-crossing to ensure that the railroad is being used and implemented to benefit the people of the area.
“Hairaten is the only border-crossing with a railroad in Afghanistan,” said Kerry A. Powell, director, ISAF Joint Command Commanders Emergency Response Program. [what about Towraghondi?] “It does facilitate and it does allow some level of competition because they have another built up border other than the one to Pakistan; it gives them options.”
The track is more than 46 miles (75 kilometers) long and stretches from the bridge connecting Uzbekistan to Afghanistan through Hairaten to Mazar-e Sharif. It cost more than $170 million to build the track, which was largely funded by the Asian Development Bank.
“These kinds of projects bring regional development to Afghanistan,” said Johan Vosloo, project security manager. “More trade and more activity will be brought across the border. With future developments, maybe an expansion of development to the east and west will happen.”
The track will also be used to transport construction material to several major projects in and around Mazar-e Sharif, including the Mazar-e Sharif International Airport.
There are plans to continue the rail system to Herat and to eastern Afghanistan. The track and stations employ hundreds of Afghans to operate it and keep it secure.
Source: ISAF Joint Command, 2010-12-09
Also of interest:
New northern international airport to boost Afghan economy
KABUL, Afghanistan – A new international airport in Mazar-e Sharif is scheduled to be complete in January 2012 and will assist with trade and transporting goods throughout Afghanistan.
More than 300,000 people live in the vicinity of Mazar-e Sharif and people will reap the benefits of being able to transport their goods throughout the country.
“It is an economic center for Afghanistan,” said Thomas Herzberg, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank representative and project coordinator. “This airport is a great way of increasing economic trade for the Afghan people. From north to east Afghanistan, it is the center point for more than four million people.”
Currently, the airport is host to more than 100,000 passengers per year and is projected to host more than 400,000 after the construction is complete.
Construction of the airport is employing hundreds of local Afghans to lay foundation, construct more than five buildings and maintain the airport. A new terminal, repairs to the old terminal, a security building and a fire response building are some of the projected projects.
The airport is designed not only for passengers, but also to work in conjunction with the new rail system located a couple of miles away, that was recently built to support economic growth. The new railway is bringing in construction supplies to the airport.
“The airport, together with the rail way station, will bring a real economic boost to Mazar-e-Sharif,” Herzberg said. “All around the airport people can see that trade centers are building up. This just goes to show what kind of positive impact this has on northern Afghanistan.”
The decision to build the airport was made in 2008 and is part of a development project to bring five international airports to Afghanistan.
Source: ISAF Joint Command, 2010-12-09
This is the first suggestion of a station I’ve seen, unless it means a freight facility and has got lost in translation. How long will it be before Ryanair advertises flights to “Tashkent (Mazar-i-Sharif) airport”…
“A train waits to move on the new train track between the Afghanistan border and Mazar-e-Sharif Dec. 6.”
“A train rests on the new track built from the border of Uzbekistan to just beyond Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan Dec. 5. The new track is more than 75 kms long and provides Afghan traders the means of importing and exporting goods.”
(Photos by Army Sgt. Michael Reinsch, IJC Public Affairs)
SMEC’s role in the Mazar-i-Sharif railway development project
Australian professional engineering and development consultancy SMEC International Pty Ltd describes its work in Afghanistan, where it has operated since 1993. It is currently involved with the Hayrartan to Mazar-i-Sharif construction project.
This Asian Development Bank funded project involves construction of a railway line between the towns of Hairatan (located on Afghanistan’s border with Uzbekistan) and Mazar-e-Sharif (in northern Afghanistan). The 75km railway line is under construction by Uzbek Railway through a Design and Build contract. The line will save transport costs and freight time for commodities (such as fuel) and general cargo. The project is of strategic importance; it is the first phase of a proposed national rail network across Afghanistan. The network will provide transport links to Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and will substantially improve regional and international connectivity. SMEC is providing design review, procurement and construction supervision services including: review of detailed designs and subsequent approvals, procurement of civil works and materials, construction supervision including on-the-job training in engineering and project management for client staff, installation and testing of equipment and machinery, commissioning of all machinery and parts and issuance of safety certification and safety authorisations for infrastructure managers.
Source: SMEC
Photos of Hayratan and its railway facilities
A good set of photos in, around and above Hayratan, taken by “Robert” in July 2010 during his Afghanistan Deployment. I have selected some of the railway shots, but the whole album is worth a look.
Here’s a shot of the new railroad. I was excited to see this train hauling track parts south Cargo being moved by rail in Afghanistan! A big first for this country. The Friendship bridge which crosses the Amu Darya into Uzbekistan. It’s used for both rail and road traffic (although not at the same time). The Hairatan border crossing is a major fuel transfer point for Afghanistan. one of the cargo yards A train that has just rolled in to Afghanistan. So nice to see commercial trade taking place in this country. Rail car being unloaded at the Hairatan crossing. Another shot of the railroad. The Afghans have made tremendous progress on it. (photo of a yellow machine)
Construction of the Friendship Bridge
Just south of Termez, at Heratan, on the Amu Darya river, diplomats understand that a reinforced steel bridge is being constructed. The aim, it would seem, is to improve the roads and garrison facilities right from the Soviet border to KabulRussians switch to commando-type raids in Afghanistan, Karan Thapar, The Times, 19 September 1980, p1 and p6 (Issue 60728; col C)
Video of Hayratan to Mazar-i-Sharif construction works
From the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif to the Uzbek border, the land runs flat with barely a hillock to block the way. It is perfect terrain for building a railway
says Afghanistan’s First New Railroad On Track, an 14 October 2010 by Charles Recknagel at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
There are details of construction and security on the new line from the Uzbek border to near Mazar-i-Sharif:
Currently, the railroad is guarded by a force of 500 police. The headquarters of the force is a small, windswept outpost halfway between Mazar-e Sharif and the Afghan border crossing of Hairaton, where the new rail line starts.
There is also a video showing construction work. This feature a twin-unit locomotive (a 2TE10?) in action at 55 sec, and then a smaller blue locomotive, both presumably belonging to Uzbek state railway UTY.
CNN on Afghan railway projects
After nearly a century, a modern Afghan railroad is under construction, reports CNN. “This connects Afghanistan to the world,” says an 18-year-old high school student named Shakrullah. He says he hopes to one day get a job as an engineer for the railroad. “I want trains for all the provinces of Afghanistan, not just for Balkh province.”
Agreement signed for north-south corridor studies
This looks potentially significant, although the words if feasible
are probably quite important. I will try to study the announcement in more detail later this week.
MINISTER SHAHRANI SIGNS HISTORIC RAILWAY AGREEMENT
Kabul: September 22, 2010
Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani today signed an historic agreement with the China Metallurgical Company (MCC) for a railway to connect Kabul to Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
This northern railway project is part of the Aynak Copper Mine Contract, signed between the Government and MCC. The contract specifies that MCC constructs a railway, if feasible, from northern Pakistan through Kabul to southern Uzbekistan. This rail link will connect Afghanistan to the railways of Pakistan, India, and South East Asia and to the extensive rail system of China, Europe and Central Asia.Minister Shahrani said, ‘When complete, the railways will give substantial benefits for the Afghan economy in trade, employment and cheaper prices. This northern railway is part of a wider plan to extend the Afghan rail network to connect Afghanistan to ports in Iran and Pakistan.’
The next step is for MCC to commission and fund a competitive tender for a feasibility study to examine the preferred route proposed by the Government’s Inter-Ministerial Railway Committee. It will take up to two years for the detailed route study and another six months to complete the full feasibility study.
The feasibility of the second part of the railway, from Kabul through Bamyan, Doshe, Kunduse, Niadabob, Hairetan and on to Uzbekistan, will be studied for an additional 18 months with construction to follow.
MCC will build the railway according to the ‘BOOT’ principle – ‘Build, Own, Operate and Transfer’. MCC will own the railway until it has recovered its capital costs through collecting transport fees. The details of the BOOT Agreement will be negotiated once the Government have approved the feasibility study prepared by a independent contractor funded by MCC.
The railway will be designed to have the size and capacity to carry the heaviest of loads – copper cathodes, copper concentrates, and commercial goods for transit, agricultural products, passengers and normal freight.
MCC will employ Afghan labor as much as possible in the construction and operation of the railway. Prior to the transfer of ownership to the Government, MCC will complete a training program for Afghan workers to operate the railway. The training will range from
basic functions to high level executive management.
Estimated costs for the entire railway range from US $ 4 –5 billion. Completion of the entire route could be within five years from starting the detailed route survey.Benefits
The opening the new railway will bring many benefits to Afghanistan. Costs of goods and services will fall due to lower transportation costs. Huge economic and social development opportunities will arise along the rail route as companies switch from road to rail transport. The mining and extractive industries will become more cost effective along the resource corridor developed with the railway.
Source: Ministry of Mines, 2010-09-22
Northern Distribution Network in action
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.
Mazar-i-Sharif railway completed
ISAF reports that construction of the railway from the Uzbek border to the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif has been completed.
Railway Line Completed in Northern Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (Sept. 15) – A 75 kilometer rail road main line between Uzbekistan and Mazar-e Sharif, Balkh province was completed recently, opening up economic progress for Afghanistan.
The $165 million project, financed by Japan and the United States, began back in May and was one of the largest construction projects in Afghan history.
The idea of building a railway connection from Termez to the capital of Balkh province was born when the Soviet army withdrew from Afghanistan 30 years ago. A single bridge over a border river was the only passage between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
Almost half of Afghanistan’s imports pass through the border town of Hairatan with the railway expected to handle millions of tons of goods, benefit up to five million people.
Also planned are an additional 25 kilometers for side and switching yards, which are expected to be completed in November.
ISAF Joint Command – Afghanistan press release, 2010-09-15