Mazar-i-Sharif

“Considerable progress” with the extension of regional railways

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Statement by Afghanistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs at the 19th Session of the ECO Council of Ministers- in Istanbul on 22 December 2010:

[…]
As H.E. President Karzai stated in his important speech in the Kabul Conference of July 20th this year, Afghanistan in the future will be the nexus of regional economic cooperation and we are committed to share the benefits of Afghanistan’s centrality with our neighbors and countries in the region particularly the ECO member states to increase transit of goods and energy as well as movement of people within our region.

Our national road and railway programs have been precisely designed to serve this important vision of Afghanistan for regional cooperation.

It was in September this year that the ECO Truck Caravan passed along some of the newly built regional, national and provincial roads across the northern Afghanistan which is clearly indicative of the progress made in the implementation of our National Road Program.

Moreover, considerable progress has been made on the extension of regional railways to Afghanistan and through Afghanistan to other countries including the railway route from China along Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan to Afghanistan, and through Afghanistan to Iran, Turkey and Europe.

In this connection, I am pleased to refer to the construction of the Hiratan – Mazar-e-Sharif railway which will be completed in the next few weeks; the ongoing construction of the Sangan-Herat railway and the ongoing preparation of the pre-feasibility study report for the Kandahar- Chaman railway.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 2010-12-25

Railway supplies Mazar-i-Sharif airport

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

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“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”…

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“A train waits to move on the new train track between the Afghanistan border and Mazar-e-Sharif Dec. 6.”

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“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

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

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

Video of Hayratan to Mazar-i-Sharif construction works

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

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.

Mazar-i-Sharif railway completed

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

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

MCC to build Kunduz – Jalalabad railway

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

“75km Railway to be Completed in Afghanistan”, reported TOLOnews on 2 August 2010. Work is “50 percent completed”, and there is a new opening date: “I hope the construction of this rail-road will be completed by the end of March, 2011,” said the Minister of Public Works, Abdul Qudoos Hamidi.

There is also this hint at something much bigger in the pipeline:

The ministry also adds that the Afghan government is planning to build 700km rail-road that will connect the capital Kabul with the northern province of Kunduz and the eastern city of Jalalabad.

The railway will be built by the MCC Chinese Company.

“The primary studies of this rail-road have already started, and its contract will be signed soon,” said Deputy Minister of Public Works, Ahmad Shah Wahid.

Source: TOLOnews, 2010-08-02

MCC is presumably China Metallurgical Group Corporation (rather than the other MCC). The Chinese group was selected for a concession to develop the Aynak copper deposits in 2007, with a railway proposed as part of the project.

The plan which seems to be firming up is to build a new north-south railway starting from Tajikistan. There would be a new line from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, to the Tajik-Afghan border near Kunduz. The route would then run through Afghanistan from Kunduz to Kabul and the Aynak mining area, continuing on to Jalalabad. There would then be an onward link to the Pakistan Railways network, joining the line through the Khyber Pass to access to Pakistan’s coast.

Pakistan keeps talking about reinstating the out-of-action Khyber Pass line and extending it to Torkham (the Afghan border town) and possibly Jalalabad (the first major town in Afghanistan). However Pakistan Railways is reported to be facing serious financial and structural problems at present.

And as a correspondent points out, “railroads are built with money, not signed agreements to build railroads”.

Afghan government plans three standard gauge railways

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The Minister of Mines and “Coordinator of Cluster for Economic & Infrastructure Development” said last month that the Railway Development Program of Afghanistan plans three lines totalling 2000 km and costing $5.938 billion [presumably US dollars].

  1. Shirkhan Bandar [for Tajikistan border] – Kunduz province – Balkh province – Herat [link to Iran]
    Branch: Mazar-i-Sharif – Hayratan [Uzbekistan border]
    Branch: Andkhoy – Aqina [Turkmenistan border]
  2. Mazar-i-Sharif – Pul-i-Khumri – Kabul – Jalalabad – Torkham [Pakistan border].
  3. Chaman [Pakistan] – Spin Boldak – Kandahar.

The statement says these lines would be 1435 mm (standard) gauge, designed for 25 ton axle loads, speeds of 100-160 km/h and capacity for 10-12 pairs of trains a day.

Building the northern corridor to standard gauge might make sense, however Hayratan – Mazar-i-Sharif is already being built to 1520 (Russian) gauge, and it is hard to see any possible justification for building Chaman – Kandahar to anything other than 1676 (Indian) gauge for compatibility with Pakistan.

Consultation Workshop on Railway Development Study

The “Consultation Workshop on Railway Development Study” took place at Kabul Serena Hotel. Topics of discussion included the development and acceleration the international trade, improvement of transportation networks in Afghanistan, providing competitive trade facilities and transit across Afghanistan, and the development plan of a railway that will join major trade centers of Afghanistan to neighboring countries.

His Excellency Wahidullah Shahrani, the Minister of Mines, and Coordinator of Cluster for Economic & Infrastructure Development, commented during his introduction, “Accelerating of the international trade requires the modernization of roadways and development of transport infrastructures, and, fortunately, the government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan accepted the strategic goals of regional cooperation of Central Asia which is included the development of six transport routes in the region, and three of that will extend through Afghanistan.”

“Currently under construction is 75 Km of railway between Hairatan and Mazar-e-sharef, part of the first phase of the northern corridor railway plan. The second and largest stage of this project is generating an additional 1000 Km of railway”,said Mr. Shahrani.
Mr. Shahrani added, “The government of Afghanistan has a plan to generate a 2000 Km of railway, which could join the some of the country’s major cities to our neighboring countries.”

According to the Railway Development Program of Afghanistan, the first route begins from the port of Shirkhan and passes through the Kunduz and Balkh provinces, ending in Herat province. It will have two branches originating at Hairatan- Mazar, and, Andkhoi- Aqina. The second route will begin from Mazar, pass through Polikhomri, Kabul, Jalalabad, and end in Toorkham. and the third route in south of the country will begin at Spinboldak/Chaman and end in Kandahar city.

Commenting on some of the technical aspects of the railway, the Minister said, “The internal gauge of the lines is planned to be similar to 1435mm European railways, with a tonnage of 25 tons per axel and a speed of 100-160 Km per Hour. In the areas where a change of gauge is impossible, there will be special arrangements to replacement cargo. The primary capacity of the railway is 10-12 pairs of daily trains.”

The total cost of the project, including construction, engineering, environmental work, advisory services, and materials is estimated to be 5.938 billion dollars.

Attending the conference were some members of the Cabinet, members of the parliament, foreign ambassadors, representatives of European Union in Kabul, as well as some members of the private sector and international organizations.
Source: Ministry of Mines, 2010-05-23