{"id":4692,"date":"2012-05-04T21:47:02","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T21:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/?page_id=4692"},"modified":"2018-03-25T21:02:55","modified_gmt":"2018-03-25T20:02:55","slug":"hairatan-and-the-friendship-bridge","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/railways\/hairatan-and-the-friendship-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Hairatan and the Friendship Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previous page: Torghundi and the railway from Turkmenistan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The most important railway in Afghanistan is the line to the border town of Hairatan from Termez in Uzbekistan. The 1520 mm gauge line crosses the River Amu Darya on the road and rail Friendship Bridge, which is one of the most significant freight routes into the country.<\/p>\n

freight<\/a>
\nThere are rail, road and barge freight facilities at the Hairatan border crossing. (Photo: Asian Development Bank).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Trains bring goods to Afghanistan including oil and fuel, wheat and flour, fertilizer, construction materials, agricultural and off-highway equipment and consumer goods.1<\/a><\/sup> The bridge also forms part of the Northern Distribution Network taking military supplies to international forces in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Until the opening the 75 km railway to Mazar-i-Sharif<\/a> in 2011-12, all goods had to be transshipped to road at Hairatan, where freight handling and Afghan border facilities had been developed around the end of the Friendship Bridge. The railway extension means freight can now be further inside Afghanistan.<\/p>\n