{"id":6378,"date":"2015-11-22T22:45:05","date_gmt":"2015-11-22T22:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/?page_id=6378"},"modified":"2020-12-10T00:28:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T00:28:28","slug":"tat-railway","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/railways\/tat-railway\/","title":{"rendered":"TAT Railway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previous page: Herat to Mazar-i-Sharif and beyond<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Map
\nImage: Appleton Consulting<\/a><\/p>\n

T<\/strong>urkmenistan, A<\/strong>fghanistan and T<\/strong>ajikistan are developing plans for a railway corridor which would be created by extending the future Atamyrat – Aqina – Andkhoy railway<\/a> through northern Afghanistan to the Tajik border. The project is known as the “TAT Railway”, from the initials of the countries involved. <\/p>\n

The total project covers a line around 635 km long; numbers vary a bit, and would depend on the route selected. After crossing the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan border at Aqina the line would run to Andkoy, then eastwards via Sheberghan to meet the existing line from Uzbekistan to Mazar-i-Sharif<\/a>. There has been some disagreement about the best course for the section of the TAT Railway east of Mazar-i-Sharif. The initial plan was for a route serving Khulm, Kunduz and the Amu Darya river port of Shirkhan Bandar on the Afghan-Tajik border. It would cross the river enter Tajikstan, terminating at Kolkhozabad (Kalkhor Abad, Jaloliddina Rumi)<\/a> on the existing railway from Uzbekistan to Qurghonteppa (which was formerly known as Kurgan-Tyube, with many variant spellings of either name). However, Tajikistan has proposed a more direct (and thus quicker to build) line from Mazar-i-Sharif to its border, at least on a temporary basis. <\/p>\n

The cost of the TAT Railway has been put at between US$1.5 and US$2.0bn.1<\/a><\/sup> Tajikistan and Afghanistan would need to seek external funding for their sections, with potential sources including the Asian Development Bank<\/a>, Islamic Development Bank<\/a>, Japanese government and China.<\/p>\n

The TAT Railway is intended to support economic integration of the countries,2<\/a><\/sup> and enable transit traffic to reach Tajikistan without having to cross Uzbekistan. “Commissioning of the railway will make this route an inseparable link of the modern ramified transport and communications infrastructure in the Asian region”, Turkmenistan’s official news agency said in September 2015.3<\/a><\/sup> <\/p>\n

Planning<\/h3>\n

On 28 April 2009 the Asian Development Bank annnouced that it had approved a technical assistance grant of US$1.2m to fund a feasibility study for two railway routes in the north of the country, as part of its 2009 pipeline for non-lending products and services as set out in its 2009-13 country partnership strategy.4<\/a><\/sup> The Afghan government would make an in-kind contribution equivalent to a further $60,000, and the Ministry of Public Works would be be the executing agency for the study. <\/p>\n

The study was to consider two proposed lines: <\/p>\n