{"id":7481,"date":"2020-12-10T00:01:15","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T00:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/?page_id=7481"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:51:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T20:51:54","slug":"khaf-to-herat-province-railway","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/railways\/khaf-to-herat-province-railway\/","title":{"rendered":"Khaf to Herat province railway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previous page: Aqina to Andkhoy railway<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Construction of the approximately 191 km railway from eastern Iran to western Afghanistan’s Herat province is being undertaken in four sections, two in each country. The third section taking the line as far as Rosnak was completed in December 2020. The fourth section is being planned, and will take the line closer to the city of Herat.<\/p>\n

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Planning<\/h3>\n

The Iranian government funded a number of developments in Afghanistan’s Herat province following the fall of the Taliban regime, including the USD68m construction of a 123 km surfaced road from the border at Dogharoun near Islam Qala to Herat 1<\/a><\/sup>2<\/a><\/sup> which was inaugurated on 27 January 2007.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

On 28 February 2002 Iranian Member of Parliament for Khaf & Rashtkhar and Chairman of the Iranian-Afghan friendship group Gholam-Heydar Ebrahimbay-Salami announced that USD25m had been allocated in the 2002 budget bill for the construction of a railway from Torbat-e-Heidarieh in Iran to Herat.4<\/a><\/sup> Funding would also come from international aid and the Iranian Commission for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan. The plan would be based on the 1975 preliminary studies by Sofrerail, and future traffic would include iron ore.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The project got underway in June 2002 when the Iranian Transport Ministry and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Works signed a memorandum of understanding.6<\/a><\/sup> <\/p>\n

A further agreement was signed during a visit to Tehran by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on 26-29 May 2006.7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In June 2006 Afghan officials visited Iran, and Es\u2019haq Naderi, economic advisor to President Karzai, agreed plans for the construction of the railway with Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Director-General Mohammad Saeednejad. Iran committed to meeting 60% of the project costs from funds it had previously allocated to Afghan reconstruction programmes. Preliminary studies had already been completed for a 189 km route (86.8 km in Iran), and tendering was expected soon afterwards.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Freight will be the principal source of revenue, with traffic forecast to reach 6\u00b78 million tonnes\/year including oil products, iron and steel as well as industrial goods. The alignment was designed for passenger trains to run at 160 km\/h, and studies have predicted 321 000 passengers a year.9<\/a><\/sup> <\/p>\n

Route<\/h3>\n

The chosen route is an extension of the existing Iranian line to Khaf, and thus takes a different route to previous proposals<\/a> for an Iran to Afghanistan link which had focused on a more direct route running outheast from Mashhad to the border at Islam Qala. <\/p>\n

The single-track railway built to Iran’s 1435 mm standard gauge (see note below for more detial of the gauge issue) starts at Khaf, the penultimate loop on the line to Sangan. It then heads south and then east through a rugged and arid landscape. The border between Iran and Afghanistan is reached after 77 km.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Iran – Herat railway project construction phases<\/h4>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n

Country<\/th>\nStage<\/th>\nRoute<\/th>\n Length, km <\/th>\nFunding <\/th>\nConstruction completed <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Iran
76.8 km10<\/a><\/sup><\/td>\n		Stage 1 <\/td>\nKhaf (Kahwaf, Khawaf, Khawaaf, Khauf, \u062e\u0648\u0627\u0641) (Junction at 24 km on the Torbat-e Heydariyeh – Sangan line) – Sangan11<\/a><\/sup> (serves mines?)<\/td>\n 14?<\/td>\nIran<\/td>\nSeptember 2016<\/a>12<\/a><\/sup><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stage 2 <\/td>\n Sangan – Myothek – Khoshbeh – Iran\/Afghanistan border at Shamtiq (Shematigh, Shamtigh, Shmtygh, \u0634\u0645\u062a\u06cc\u063a)
\n13<\/a><\/sup>\n<\/td>\n		~62 km<\/td>\nIran<\/td>\nOctober 2017? <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Afghanistan<\/td>\nStage 3 <\/td>\nborder at Shamtiq – Rosnak (Rahzanak, \u0631\u0648\u0632\u0646\u06a9) or Jono (Jonaw, Junaw) near the Islam Qala – Herat road to the north of Ghourian (Ghoryan, \u063a\u0648\u0631\u064a\u0627\u0646, Ghurian) 14<\/a><\/sup>15<\/a><\/sup> <\/td>\n61.2 <\/td>\nIran<\/td>\n30 km October 2017, rest January 201916<\/a><\/sup> Formal opening December 2020.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stage 4 Phase 1<\/td>\nRahzanak or Jono – Robat Paryan (Rabat Pariyan)<\/td>\n 43 km<\/td>\nAfghanistan (supported by Italy)<\/td>\nConstruction approved February 201917<\/a><\/sup> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stage 4 Phase 2<\/td>\nRobat Paryan – Herat (\u0647\u0631\u0627\u062a\u200e\u200e) industrial area and Airport <\/td>\n 47 km <\/td>\n Ministry of Mines & Petroleum <\/td>\nWork officially launched 14 September 2025, expected to take two years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
This should not be taken as definitive!<\/em> Corrections would be very welcome.
Reported distances vary between sources. Spellings vary a lot<\/em>. <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n