Uzbekistan

Railway Gazette International on Afghan rail plans

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Railway Gazette International on the latest Afghan rail plans:

Afghan rail strategy takes shape

[…]
The first phase would start at Sher Khan Bandar on the Tajik border, connect at Naibabad with the 1520 mm gauge line now under construction from Uzbekistan, and continue through Mazar-i-Sharif to Herat, with the possibility of a link to the Turkmemistan Railways line at Towraghondi. A branch would run from Shirbirghan via Andkhvoy to the Aqina border crossing with Turkmenistan.
[…]
A second phase would see a Chinese-backed line built from Mazar-i-Sharif to Kabul, Jalalabad and Torkham, near the Khyber Pass. The long-proposed extension of Pakistan Railways’ Chaman line to Kandahar is also planned.
Source: Railway Gazette International, 2010-06-28

Capacity at the border

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

AFGHAN-UZBEK DELEGATION DISCUSSES SHIPMENT OF GOODS

It is planned that loading capacity of goods at the Hayratan border town will be increased from 80 to 160 wagons a day, Deputy Commerce Minister Sharif Sharif said after a meeting with Uzbekistan delegation headed by Mr Akbar Shukurov. The delegation of Uzbekistan plans to discuss loading capacity of goods at the border with Afghan officials, Uzreport Information Portal reported.

The aim of the delegation is to visit and hold talks with Afghan officials on increasing the loading capacity of wagons at the Hayratan border town.

The Uzbek delegation is headed by Mr Shukurov, a deputy chairman of the Uzbekiston Temir Yollari (Uzbekistan Railways) state joint stock company.

It is said that a group of experts are also included in the delegation to assess ways of increasing loading capacity of wagons at Hayratan.

The Afghan border has the capacity of loading 80 wagons a day. Mr Sharif Sharif says the capacity will soon increase to 160 wagons per day. Mr Shukurov said that they expected to increase it to 250 wagons.

The talks on this issue take place at a time when hundreds of wagons are left unloaded at the Afghan border due to low capacity. Afghan government had previously promised to increase the loading capacity of the border town by three times.
Source: Embassy of Uzbekistan to Belgium, 2009-02-09

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

Mazar-i-Sharif line construction work

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Uzbekistan to build railway line in Afghanistan

Uznews.net – A wage of $500 per month, poor living and working conditions and the lack of security – this is what Uzbek railway builders are offered to build the Hairaton-Mazar-e Sharif railway line in northern Afghanistan.

…

The salary of $500 per month is very good in Uzbekistan but many specialists will think twice before putting their lives at risk.

Railway builders told Uznews.net on condition of anonymity that the construction of the Termez-Hairaton line started last autumn and 20 Uzbek builders had been involved in it. “Builders were sent at the beginning of last autumn to lay rails and ballasts. They returned a month ago,” a railway builder said.

A brigade of 30 militarised guards was sent to Afghanistan on 24 January but they could not get there immediately because of military operations in the country’s north.

[more]

Source: Uznews 2010-02-07

Russian discussion

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Russian language-discussion of Afghan railways, via Google Translate

It looks like I need to find a copy of the book Выполняя Интернациональный Долг (and learn Russian).

Yes, the branch Kushka-Toragundi there a long time. I have personally seen covered freight wagons in the WCD Toragundi, when he served in Afghanistan, in 1986 and I have a small book (authorship, not mine) “In carrying out international duty”, where this branch is a little described. There an interview with a citizen of Afghanistan, a switchman employed on this road. There is in this book and excellent photo (h / b) TEM-2 diesel locomotive with a banner “Friendship with the Soviet and the Afghan people can not be undermined!

Павел Егерев 17.08.2009 01:31

Also a Ferghana article dated 4 December 2009 Why does Afghanistan need railroad?, looking at the background to the Uzbek – Afghan rail link.

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

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